


The Ultimate Request

by akaHAZZAP



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Arranged Marriage, Attempted Kidnapping, Attempted Murder, Bratva, CEO, Engagement, F/M, Fluff, Love, Marriage Proposal, Marriage of Convenience, Murder, Requited Love, Romance, Triad - Freeform, Weddings, olicity - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-26
Updated: 2015-12-25
Packaged: 2018-04-23 11:23:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 40,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4874839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akaHAZZAP/pseuds/akaHAZZAP
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Felicity Smoak finds herself kidnapped by notorious ex-Triad enforcer Oliver Queen, she never expects their goals to align and to wind up his partner in more ways than one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to so-caffeinated for having a look over this fic and giving some great words of wisdom! Also thanks to 11-dino for being my amazing cheerleader! You have definitely pushed me to persevere with this fic and I'm glad that I did!

CHAPTER ONE

This was not how she had expected to spend her Wednesday afternoon. No, definitely not. Her hands were twisted and tied tightly behind her. The rickety old chair which she sat on squeaked every time she rocked forward slightly, trying hard to use the training, all the damn training techniques she should know but to no success. She wished she had paid more goddamn attention to Anatoly, rather than moan at how much her ass hurt after every fall. She could see his exasperated face clouding her mind and frustratedly began to move her hands again attempting to free herself. 

It wasn't the first time she had been kidnapped, and she doubted it would be her last. The previous time had lead to quite a brutal bout of torturing which had only ended when her men had infiltrated the area where she had been kept. Thankfully, her only reminder of that sorry event was a nasty looking scar on her right shoulder, proof of her survival. 

She gulped uneasily at her memory, praying that that wouldn't happen again, she wasn't cut out for this, the kidnapping or torturing malarkey. Well, she supposed, no one really was, but she especially was not cut out for this. Right now she would do anything to retrace her steps and decide to do the logical thing and get Dig (her bodyguard) to accompany her to the shops. But she had grown accustom to her own adventures which she went on during her lunch hour, and frequently in the evening. It allowed her to have a breath of fresh air, to escape and to not feel so stifled in her life. Between running Smoak Industries and her Bratva nightly activities she always longed for moments where she could just be herself. 

But this wasn't one of those moments, and she hoped to god that Dig had realised she hadn't returned to work after her small escapade, and that he would, in fact send out a search party.

She heard the rustling of a door opening behind her and it slammed shut quickly. She attempted to turn around to see who it was but unfortunately the old creaky chair stopped her from twisting fully around, her tight grey dress hiking its way up her thighs as he came into view. 

He was a man, a very large man. Who was tall and broad, muscley, but not as much as Diggle, that would be a hard feat to beat. She was positive that this, this large man was dangerous, and could more than likely break her neck with one hand, probably even his pinky finger if he tried hard enough. Unfortunately, she couldn't make out his facial features, they were hidden in the silhouette of a large, dark green hood. He started to pace in front of her, his right index finger and thumb rubbing against each other in what would seem to be a nervous tick.

"I really don't think you have thought this through!" Felicity remarked tartly, her eyes narrowing as she watched this man as he continued to paced. "Do you know what will happen when they find me here with you, tied up to this goddam chair?! How many hours have I been here for? An hour? Or two? That's definitely enough time for several people to notice that I am missing. And for them to start looking for me. Do you know who I am?"

"I do...Felicity Smoak. MIT class of '09, CEO of Smoak Industries, Bratva informant and hacker. Father murdered by the Triad, Roy Harper, your half brother, illegitimate child whose mother was a drug addict, now fast becoming a prominent figure in the Bratva. And that brings me to Anatoly Knyazev, your godfather, now stepfather. Bratva Captain in Starling City. I very much know who you are Felicity Smoak."

She pursed her lips, a silence echoing through the empty warehouse as she thought of her next move. She knew who he was, yet she didn't at the same time. His voice was so familiar, but she couldn't place it. She had heard it often fairly recently but this new gruffness to it confused her. Who was he? 

She would be lying if what he had just said didn't concern her. Somehow he knew all about her life, her Bratva life which was, well is a close kept secret. She had always been careful, her whole family had always been careful. They all knew what it would mean if their Bratva lives were uncovered. Prison if they were lucky, if not - she stopped her thoughts quickly as various ways she could be murdered flitted in quick succession through her mind. 

This man obviously judged her silence as fear, or confusion so he continued, "and I need your help."

Her eyes narrowed at his words and her lips emitted a sharp, shrill laugh.

"Help? You want my help when you have knocked me unconscious, kidnapped me and held me hostage? What makes you think that I will give you my help?" she spat out at him, a few blonde strands which had escaped her always perfect ponytail, flying in front of her eyes as she moved her head in vigorous upset. He paused in his pacing and sat on the seat in front of her, his well calloused hands rubbing nervously on his knees. "Well are you going to give me an answer?"

He looked up at her then, his hood still hiding his identity before he pushed his fingers up, the hood falling loosely down his back, his eyes shifting to her eyes. She would have known those blue eyes and short, cropped hair anywhere.

"Oliver?" 

Her eyes widened in shock before everything started to make so much more sense. Of course it was his voice. She thought back to the first time she had heard it, all those months ago, a witty remark on his tongue and a dazzling smile on his lips. She had always found him handsome from the moment she had first laid eyes on him. A dark grey suit hiding his muscular body and his white shirt which had been left slightly unbuttoned, something she had remarked on in a teasing nature those many months ago. They had spoken politely for a few minutes then, before later in the evening he returned to her, with a large glass of Pinot Noir. She, of course, gratefully accepted it and his company - Galas were her least favour events to attend. They had spoken then for a few hours and she was intrigued, who was he? Who was Oliver Queen? 

It didn't take her long to find out, reformed playboy, spent several years working abroad (where she had unfortunately been unable to find much information on him, only fuelling her curiosity), loving friend, dolting big brother. But it was his father who had caused her concern, Robert Queen, Triad informant. And then she had discovered so was he, Oliver Queen, a Triad member. She had increased her research then, enticed to find out more about him. The Triad was her enemy, her family's enemy and could this be the weakness in the Triad that she had been looking for? Since her discovery she had kept a close eye on him, on his family and for some reason she had always had a soft spot for him. But deep down, she knew why he was here and she knew why he needed her help.

"If I untie you, will you sit and hear me out?" he proposed, his eyes rose to meet her shocked ones, pleading with her. 

Before she realised what she was doing she was nodding her head in agreement, and then he was moving forward, cutting her wrists free finally sitting back in his chair as she rubbed the slightly chaffed skin around her wrists. She waited for him to continue, knowing no one was in control here. They were at a stalemate, which he had instigated, and this change in events intrigued her. To be honest ever since she first laid eyes on Oliver Queen he had always intrigued her.

"It's been a while," she said tartly, watching him warily, she hadn't seen him for a month at least and to be honest she didn't think anyone had. She had had her concerns that something had happened to him, and even though he had just kidnapped her, she kind of felt relieved that he was here in front of her and she just knew that he wasn't going to hurt her. She had met him several times after discovering he was Triad and each time she somehow knew he would never lay a finger on her.

"And I'm sure you understand why," he nodded in reply, his voice becoming grave and she knew he was going to talk about his parents. "I think everyone has heard about my parent's death at the beginning of the month..." 

His eyes trailed across the floor as he spoke with distress, it was obvious he was still grieving. Her mind flitted back to a news headline which she had read gingerly all those weeks back - 'TRAGIC ACCIDENT KILLS ROBERT AND MOIRA QUEEN'. As soon as she had heard of their deaths, her heart had leaped out for him, she knew what it was like to lose a father, and she couldn't imagine the pain if she had lost her mother at the same time. 

But she had to bring her thoughts back under control. Ever since her father had died she had been Bratva trained, it was her job to bring all her thoughts back under her own control and to think about how their deaths could benefit her, and the Bratva. It was a horrible thought, and she hated that she was trained to think in that way. It was during times when she was alone in the evenings that she wished her life was different, but it was not. 

She had only informed the Bratva of the Queen's involvement with the Triad shortly after their deaths, when she had concluded that that was why they had been murdered. Anatoly had initially been intrigued by this development before deciding that the Queen family was a dead end, no point in further investigating. Their deaths enough evidence for that. However, Felicity had hoped that wouldn't be the case and for the last month she had been searching for a way to meet up with Oliver again, alone and unknown. Yet it seemed he had somehow managed to beat her to this, something that she was now feeling grateful for.

"I heard they died because of a car malfunction.." She trailed off, her fingers plying together uncomfortable with his obvious distress.

"That's what was reported.." his eyes darkened and she knew her suspicions were right. Oliver knew it wasn't an accident, exactly what she had speculated to Anatoly all those weeks ago.

"I thought so," she murmured, and he looked up surprised by this. He obviously wasn't expecting her to have even given his parents, let alone him a second thought. "We knew about your family involvement with the triad..."

"As soon as they murdered my parents, I cut ties with them, not that I had many... My father worked selectively with them, and I helped out on some of the finer missions. But in the last few months they were becoming less and less frequent. I was trying to leave, make a better life for myself and so was my father. We had both had enough of it... Of the way they treated women. The Triad obviously realised what was happening and the next thing I know I'm being woken up by police knocking at my front door telling me that my parent had died in a 'accident'." 

His eyes darkened with sadness and betrayal. Felicity knew all too well that both the Bratva and Triad were brutal organisations and escaping their clutches by leaving was one of the hardest, if not most impossible things to do. 

"And that's why I need your help, your protect. The Triad fear Anatoly, they fear you, or 'Oracle' as they call you. I want justice for my parents murders, and I have a younger sister, Thea... I just want her to be safe and if I was under your protection then we would be considerably more protected, the Triad would have to seriously reconsider seeking us out, and that would bide us all time... I know you want revenge for your father too..."

He shuffled closer to her then, his hand reaching into his leather jacket pulling out a rather battered phone which made her heart sink into her chest. He turned the screen towards her revealing a beautiful young teenager, she couldn't be any older than fifteen. Her thin, petite face framed with long, wavy, brown hair and a large carefree smile on her lips.

"I swear I didn't want to do this to you, I didn't want to kidnap you. But I just couldn't see another way to get you attention, to get you alone," he spoke softly as he flicked through to another photo, this time of the young girl on his back, them both obvious in fits of laughter by the big smiles on their faces and the way the camera had caught them. "Thea, she's only fifteen, and I would do anything to protect her... She doesn't deserve this life..."

Felicity glanced up at him then, his eyes had softened and she would be lying if she said she didn't find him attractive. To be honest, she had always found him attractive, in a suit, or that time she bumped into him when he was on a run, his muscles bulging out beneath his tight t-shirt and shorts. And it wasn't that she was not use to having a man of this caliber next to her. She worked with Bratva men, many Bratva men and they were large, and handsome men, muscley men. But there was something about this man in front of her. He was big, so big that she knew that he could do some serious damage to her, but it was the look in his eyes, that held her captivated, that made her find him so attentive, and attractive. His eyes crinkling slightly as he spoke about his little sister.

Instead of commenting on his need for her help, she knew he would continue his spiel in a moment, but his sister was obvious important to him and that meant she was important in this very moment.

"She's beautiful, your sister..."

"She is," he replied, smiling sadly at her for a moment before becoming more serious and pocketing his phone. "So will you consider working with me? For us to get together? For Thea's sake?"

All this mentioning of his sister, made her think of her brother, or half brother, Roy and she knew that even though he was taller and stronger and could definitely protect himself now, she would do anything in her power to make sure that he was safe. All the tech which she had given him was enough evidence of that.

"And by working with you I take it you mean us, in a relationship?" she asked, frowning slightly in deep thought. It was believable after all, they had spent many nights together all those months ago.

"I'm not sure if just a relationship would cut it. The Triad are very particular about relationships, they only protect those who are blood related or those bound in matrimony-"

"So marriage then...?" She laughed out loud, but seeing his serious face she choked the remaining laugh down. Oh boy she did not expect this at all in her plans. "Oh god, you are serious? You knock me out, handcuff me to this chair, then release me and now you propose? All I wanted to do today was have a nice day at work with no interruptions. Especially none about how that guy from accounting had accidentally downloaded another bug when he was watching porn for the 20th time this month - god I really need to fire him." His brow furrowed in confusion by her off topic, rant. But she swiftly realised that she didn't to get back onto the topic, oh yes, proposal. "But a proposal, nope I definitely was not expecting that today, probably not... ever!"

"I know it's unbelievable, but you are honestly my only hope, I don't... I don't know what I will do if you say no..." His eyes flickered up to hers filled with distress and angst. She gulped, realising she really was his last hope, at least maybe, something was actually working in her favour for once.

"And why should I believe you? Trust you? You should know I don't trust easily." 

This was true, she didn't trust easily, but ever since she met him she had trusted him. And plus she needed him to think she was wary of him, it would arise suspicious if she accepted his proposal graciously, wouldn't it? And she also should probably work out if it was all worth the risk, would he be able to help her bring down the Triad? Once and for all?

"And you have every right not to trust me, but that's why I am going to give you this," he said fumbling for a moment in his jacket again and she sat a little upright, all too aware of what he could bring out of his pocket, even if it did seem extremely unlikely. Thankfully, all he pulled out was a USB stick. He reached his hand out and she accepted it, his fingers slightly brushing her outstretched hand. "This has some of the data I managed to download this morning from the Triad's main base. The rest I have on a hard drive, hidden away. That, is yours to keep no matter what, take it as an apology for putting you through this ordeal. I know secrets about the Triad as well. Those and the hard drive will be yours, if you accept me."

She eyed the drive warily. She needed to act this out, but inside she bubbled with excitement, data directly from the Triad, it was everything that she had ever dreamed and hoped for. He seemed genuine, and so did the data but she knew she needed to check it out before she could even begin to accept his deal. This agreement between them, had been what she had originally hope for. She had always wished to have an informant within the Triad feeding her secrets, something that was obviously not going to happen here, but maybe this would be a reasonable price to pay for all the data?

"I'll let you leave now, I can even give you a ride to your office, or your home, I'll let you decode the data, and then get in contact with me. I don't have a backup plan though. So if I don't hear from you within the hour, I'll take that as your answer."

"An hour? That won't be enough time for me to decrypt this-" 

"I think we all know that is not true, Felicity, we both know that you are the best in your field," he interrupted her with a smirk in return, and she smiled in surprise. He definitely had listened to her when they first met, she had taunted him about her genius status and it seemed that he had, in fact, been listening to her.

"Well I think a lift would be advisable, seeing as I have no idea where I am. Oh god, I hope Diggle won't be too pissed at me for this!" She froze as she thought of her bodyguard and what this little disappearance would be causing him. "He normally lets my little jaunts slip past him as long as I don't get into too much trouble, and well I think today, is definitely a little more trouble than I am allowed to get myself into..." 

"I'm sorry for putting you through this Felicity," he murmured, his eyes glancing to the floor away from her face illustrating how much he regretted putting her into this situation. "But I just couldn't see anyone allowing me to sit down and have a conversation with you, you are always so closely guarded. I just couldn't see another way..." 

"Don't worry about it, as far as kidnapping goes this has definitely been the best one yet, but maybe next time just try talking to me instead?" She smiled warmly, acknowledging how distressed he was and how she wasn't annoyed at him. 

She rose from the chair, her heels clinking as she walked across the room towards the door. It took him a moment to move, he was too absorbed in, well, her. He never dreamed he would ever get this far. He had been hopeful, yes, very hopefully, but he never imagined that he would feel this much assurance after this small rendezvous. 

He rose up and started to follow her as she turned her head, making sure that he was accompanying her. Within moments they were in his black Sudan, and speeding out of the parking lot towards her house which he knew from his own research was situated in a small, high profile residential area of Starling City. 

For the entire journey they sat in silence, his hand tapping the steering wheel in a nervous gesture as Felicity watched out of the window the entire time, street after street speeding past them quickly, her mind racing, trying to work out if this would actually work out. 

It only took twenty minutes until he halted the car outside the highly protected gates and he turned to watch her.

"Here take this as well..." He handed her a piece of paper a number scribbled on it in his scruffy handwriting. "Please, phone me by six..."

She stretched out her hand and accepted the paper, squeezing his hand for a moment before withdrawing it. There was something about him, something so intriguing and his proposal filled her with hope, but she wouldn't dare say that to him, at least not yet.

"I'm not sure if I should say thanks for the ride, after the kidnapping, but I guess I shall speak to you soon..." 

He chucked then, amused that she could crack a joke in a situation like this.

"And I hope to speak to you sooner rather than later too..."

She nodded in reply, then swung the door open, stepping out, her handbag swinging around her shoulder as she swiftly shut the door behind her. Her heels dug uncomfortably into the gravel as she approached the gate, quickly typing in the passcode before trundling up to the front door and entering her house. She was grateful for once to find it quiet and empty because now she needed to work. She needed to know if he was actually telling her the truth and if this USB stick did literally hold all her hopes and dreams. 

With that thought at the forefront of her mind she hurried to her study before quickly booting up one of her many computers. Whilst she waited she shrugged her jacket off and peered down at her wrists, examining her skin to make sure that there wasn't much of a mark left from the car ties. Thankfully, there wasn't and not before long the computer was up and running and she was examining the USB content. 

It took her half an hour to decode some of the information and elation spread through her when she realised that in fact, Oliver had spoken the truth. The realisation that this was only the beginning of the data which she had spent the last few years trying to get a hold of made her giddy with excitement. Sighing happily, she leaned back. She knew she needed the rest of the data, her mind whirling at the thought of what she could do if they had all the data. And that seemed to cement her answer further. It didn't matter that he wouldn't be an informant for her. He had data and she knew she could get so many answers from that. 

She glanced at her phone, 5:33pm. The least she could make him do was to make him sweat for a few more minutes, he had kidnapped her after all. 

She made her away to the kitchen then, pausing at her reflection in the mirror, surprised to see her hair so dishevelled. Shaking her hair out of her usual ponytail she continued downstairs, slowing down on high alert when she realised someone was at the front door, about to enter. Before she had time to contemplate what to do the door was thrown open, revealing Diggle, his gun raised and ready to harm what he thought was an intruder, in her house.

"Woah... woah Dig, calm down it's just me..." She replied raising her hands in surrender, a natural habit of hers.

"Felicity?! How did you get here? Are you all right?" 

He looked around for any signs of foul play. He was obviously confused by how she was there and why she had disappeared for several hours and had not contacted anyone to explain why.

"I'm fine, it's just me here, put that thing away," she shook her head in disgust. Even though she knew how to fire a gun, she never liked the damn things and Diggle knew that perfectly well.

"Where an earth have you been?!" He growled with a great deal of concern dripping from his features. 

He looked her over quickly, checking for any sign of injury before deciding that she was alright before tightly embracing her in a brotherly hug. He gestured to the two other men, who Felicity had only just realised now had appeared with him and they set off surveying the house, checking each room for any intruder as they always did every time she came home. Accepting that Dig was happy she was fine she released him before turning towards the kitchen. After everything that had happened she really needed a nice large cup of coffee to calm her nerves. Diggle followed her closely, obviously wanted answers from her. 

"Just out," she replied hesitantly, not sure how this conversation was going to go. Diggle had always had some reservations towards the Queen's because of their Triad involvement and there was no way that this conversation was going to go smoothly. Just as well she wasn't going to tell him Oliver had kidnapped as well. That would definitely mean this would all end in disaster! 

"And if you want to go out then you need protection. How many times do I have to tell you that...?" He droned back, watching her as she turned the kettle on and pulled a few mugs out of a cupboard. "Maybe I have been letting you off too lightly these last few months, the Triad are becoming stronger, more powerful, maybe Anatoly will manage to speak some sense into you..."

"Don't tell Anatoly, please," she pleaded turning around to look sharply up at him as she spooned a couple of dollops of ground coffee into each cup. "I want to tell him in my own time..."

"I'll consider not telling him if you tell me what the hell is going on! That's the third time this week you have disappeared! How am I meant to do my job if you keep running off on your own?!"

Taking a deep breath she stood looking out the window, taking her time to contemplate how exactly to tell him about Oliver. Coming straight out with the proposal would be a disaster, so that would have to wait, she needed to start small. She knew Diggle, she knew how fiercely he wanted to protect her and if she confided in him and revealed her plan he would never agree with her. He would never trust Oliver and then she would never get the data, and they need it. They needed that data. She turned around, fiddling with her necklace, the one her father had given her all those years ago.

"So there is a reason I have been going around by myself, and I didn't want to tell you until I worked out what was happening, but I've been meeting someone..." She admitted, turning back to face him so she could watch him carefully as he his features morphed from shock to confusion.

"Felicity...?"

"And it's probably not someone I should have been meeting with which is why I have been sneaking around..." 

Thank god she had been sneaking around attempting to get her hands on more of the Triad data by herself. The sole reason for her sneaking around was because she knew Anatoly and Diggle would not approve of it. They always said it was too dangerous, something she shouldn't be doing. Her, sitting behind a computer was fine enough, but whenever she left the confines of her computer they always got a bit testy. Thinking about it now, Oliver was damn well lucky that she had been sneaking around. At least now they had a believable cover for this relationship, this engagement.

Diggle narrowed his eyes at this. Obviously working out that this was a dangerous man that she had been seeing, and most likely an enemy as well.

"Who is he?" 

"He's... He's been helping me get some data from the Triad, and things developed and now we are pretty close..." she worded carefully glancing at the clock, realising that she would have to wrap up this conversation pretty quickly if she was going to call him back within the hour.

"Who is he?" Diggle stipulated each word.

"And before you judge him, just know that he is important to me and he has helped me a lot these last few months," she held her finger up so she could finish speaking. Diggle was one of the few people who actually knew her well, and since she was going to be engaged to Oliver, well she needed to make this whole farce believable. 

Diggle narrowed his eyes even further she knew he wanted a name. Knowing that she would have to give it no matter what she bit her lip before squeaking it out, shutting her eyes so not to see his reaction. 

"Oliver Queen."

"Goddamn it Felicity!" He growled, throwing his hands up to his head in a mixture of fury and frustration. He waited a moment, thinking about her reveal. "I suspected something like this was happening behind my back. He's Triad, Felicity! He's dangerous! I knew as soon as you suggested that Moira and Robert Queen were murdered that there was something else going on here! How could you even be alone with him in the first place? He is a risk! A threat!"

"Yes, maybe he is dangerous. But he is not Triad. Not anymore. I was right when I said that the Triad murdered his parents! And all he wants to do now is protect his younger sister! And be with me... I have proof up this up the stairs on a USB stick which is filled with data that proves he is no longer involved with the Triad!" she stated coolly, heat rising in her cheeks. Maybe she wasn't telling the whole truth but she knew Oliver could be trusted. She just hoped to god that this didn't come and bite her back the ass. His face appeared in her mind, and she saw the way his eyes crinkled when he spoke of his sister, she felt like she could trust Oliver, well she knew she could. And he was going to be useful, not just to her, but to Anatoly, he knew so much about the Triad that they didn't.

"Maybe that's the case but you shouldn't have met him without me, I'm your bodyguard, I'm meant to protect you and how an earth am I suppose to do that when you are swaning off to meet the enemy?!" 

"He's not the enemy."

"Felicity! Until I meet him and do a full scale search into his entire life, until I know every minute detail, he is the enemy. He's Triad until I decide otherwise. He isn't safe..." he took in a sharp breath, attempting to calm down slightly. "I'm meant to be your friend as well Felicity, you should at least have told me about this as your friend.."

"I know Dig," she thought out her next words carefully, pausing to consider what to say and how to make this situation slightly better for Diggle. He was right after all. He was one of her closest friends and confidants. "But I knew what you would say, and I wanted to wait... Wait until it was serious..." She gulped hard, lying to one of her best friends was difficult enough as it was. "Just start your life analysis of him and meet him, then you can realised that what I am saying is the truth..."

He grunted in reply picking up his phone to start his research, obviously still very much annoyed by the fact that she was seeing someone so forbidden and dangerous. Realising that this was in fact the end of their discussion she turned to leave the room, picking up her handbag and coffee. 

5:58pm. She was cutting it fine. She hastily moved up the stairs and entered her bedroom, surveying it quickly to make sure no-one was there. Happy that there wasn't, she pulled the crumpled piece of paper out of her purse, before swiftly dialling the number. It rang twice before he answered.

"Felicity?!" Even over the phone she could sense the hope and fear in his voice, something which she was not at all familiar with.

"So when do you want to meet my family, Mr Smoak?"

END CHAPTER


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah thanks so much for a great response to my last chapter! Here's the my next and hopefully it is a nice way to ease ourselves into the new series starting on Wednesday! I just cannot wait for all the Olicity goodness!
> 
> Thanks again to so-caffeinated for being a great beta and reading this over for me and to 11-dino for being my fabulous cheerleader!

After initially accepting his proposal she spoke to Oliver for a while after they both realised how much they still had to discuss. How was this all going to work? Where were they going to live? When were they going to get married? How was she going to tell her parents? Her friends? Thankfully it didn't take them long to decide that keeping the fact this whole relationship was a marriage of convenience between themselves was essential. It was lucky that they had spent quite a lot of time together all those months ago. But even now she was unsure why they had drifted apart, he hadn't contacted her and well, she hadn't either in the end. It was only now that she was wishing she had confronted him, because maybe he would have been more useful to her if they had started this relationship all those months ago, but at least now he could help.

She was distracted from her thoughts as she heard feet thundering along her hallway and several loud voices. Shuffling to her feet to find out what an earth was going on she was surprising to find her mother flinging herself towards her, her blonde hair flying everywhere and starling Felicity.

"Felicity! Are you alright honey...?" 

Her mother enveloped her further into her arms, pulling her closer. It was obvious that she had heard about her small mishaps earlier that day. She must have been worried, every since Felicity had returned from her years at MIT her mother had turned around a new leaf, she was always concerned about what Felicity was doing, where she was and after Felicity's disastrous relationship with Ray it had peaked and ended in an argument of momentous proportions. It had taken Felicity a good few weeks to forgive her, and Donna had finally realised that she needed to give Felicity some more space, which Donna often forgot. But no-one was ever perfect, and at least Felicity mostly had a loving family who truly cared for her. 

"Woah Mom, calm down! I'm fine!" Felicity assured her as she hugged her back. Felicity let go from the hug fairly quickly but Donna still had her arms tightly in place around her, needing the physical contact to make sure that her only daughter was in fact all right. Eventually, Donna released her, her hands grabbing Felicity's cheeks to bring both their eyes into contact.

"I'm being serious Felicity, both Anatoly and I have been so worried and concerned when we got the call from John today! I honestly can't say how relieved I was when John said that you were home and well. So don't you ever do that to us again Felicity! It was almost like your father all over again..."

Felicity looked sheepishly up at her, only now considering the fact that her disappearance had actually upset her mother, even if it wasn't actually her fault. It was the least she could do.

"Felicity, are you sure you are alright? John said you just disappeared needed some alone time?" She heard Anatoly ask from behind her mother doubt and suspicion evident in his voice. He knew his step-daughter, his god-daughter well. And he knew there was something going on which she wasn't telling them. All too aware of Anatoly's thoughts Felicity knew that she had to bite the bullet. There was going to be a fall out no matter what, but the sooner she got this over with the sooner they could move forward and they could get back on track to destroying the Triad once and for all.

"Yeah that's what I should probably tell you about..." She trailed off pulling Donna's hands away from her face. This was the challenging part, what exactly was the best way to tell the leader of the Bratva that you are kinda dating or rather engaged to the enemy? Not that Oliver was the enemy, but to Anatoly he most definitely was. "I think we need some wine for this... Or maybe something a little stronger? Let me get the vodka..."

"Felicity...? You are worrying me honey..." asked Donna her voice dripping with concern as she watched her daughter remove a few glasses and a large bottle of vodka from a cupboard.

"So over the last couple of weeks, well months I haven't been entirely honest with anyone..." She poured a reasonable amount of vodka in the small glasses before handing them out. She downed her own, wincing slightly as it burned her throat on its way down. She coughed slightly, clearing her throat, before gathering up her courage, she really just needed for this all to be over with. "I've been seeing someone..."

It was silent for a moment, Anatoly watching her. His small beady eyes flickering around her face looking for a sign, any sign that there was something more going on here. And Felicity returned his stare back at him coolly, keeping her face neutral, after all her Bratva training now was not the time to crack under pressure, especially under pressure forced upon her by her stepfather. She was stronger than that. 

However, Donna was another story, it took her a moment to consider Felicity's admittance, and Felicity knew she was trying to work out if this was going to be another Ray scenario all over again which of course it most definitely wasn't.

"Finally! Oh Felicity I am so pleased for you! I have been worrying about you ever since that horrible breakup with that awful man... I told you Anatoly, didn't I! I knew there was a change in you, some more determination! You're so much like your father..." 

Donna trailed off positively squealing, she had obviously decided that whoever this man was he was someone good in Felicity's life, much to Felicity's delight! Having her mother on her side would definitely make it easier to convince Anatoly, and help with Oliver's transition into their lives. She was surprised, however, that it hadn't really taken all that much to convince Donna, she thought she would have to wave the 'he is Oliver Queen' flag before Donna would be content with this new relationship. Looking back on it now Felicity realised ever since she had met Oliver all those months ago she had been different. Spending less times visiting her parents, becoming more involved with the Bratva and spending more time on her own, planning. Donna must have noticed this slight change and Donna being Donna had concluded that it was because of a boy. It made sense, really. Nearly every Sunday Felicity would visited her Mother and Anatoly for a family dinner and over the last few months Donna had upped this discussions around Felicity's lack of a relationship. Donna had repeated again and again that it has been two years since Ray, since he had ended their relationship, and well Donna had clearly stated, that Felicity should move on, get herself out there, find herself a man (or woman if that's the way she swung, Donna wasn't really picky).

"Calm down Donna, you can have your turn to ask everything later," Anatoly interrupted her firmly, still carefully watching Felicity who hadn't said anything to her mother, or made any gesture of excitement which Anatoly had expected of his stepdaughter after announcing a new relationship. "Who is he Felicity?"

She looked up at Anatoly, nibbling her bottom lip slightly in worry, she knew what his reaction was going to be and no matter how much she wanted this all to be over she was still at times scared of Anatoly. There was a good reason why Anatoly was a Bratva Captain after all.

"Who is he?" Anatoly's question was firmer this time, he demanded an explanation from Felicity. He needed to know what was going on in her life, assess if this was a threat to the Bratva and minimise it if necessary. 

Felicity pushed her shoulders back, gathering up every bit of confidence she could. She breathed in. She could do this. It had been a while since she had any need to stand up to Anatoly, but in her rebellious teenager years she had done it frequently. But now it seemed different, she was an adult she shouldn't need to lie to her family, but to get this job done she knew she needed to, and that's what pushed her forward.

"Now before you get mad, this isn't just a fling, I researched... I did a lot of research and it took me quite a while before I actually began to trust him, so don't even think I have just jumped into this relationship willy nilly..." her tone was sharp and blunt, her eyes focusing solely on Anatoly. It was him who she need to convince that Oliver wasn't a threat, and that she really did love him and trust him and that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him.

"Goddamit Felicity it better not be who I think it is!" he snarled, slamming his hand down on her kitchen surface causing Felicity to jump at the sudden noise and harsh movement. 

So maybe this was not going to be as easy as she had thought, after meeting Oliver at the Gala all those months ago there had been some speculation about a relationship between the two of them. Obviously Felicity had denied everything, because they weren't together. But she knew Anatoly had a great memory and he must have put two and two together. 

"It better not be Robert fucking Queen's son!"

Felicity adverted her eyes then, turning to busily bustle into the cupboards before pouring a large glass red wine. She took a large swing from it, not answering Anatoly. But that was all it took for him to know that he had in fact guessed correctly.

"Oh for fucksake! I knew I should have warned you off him after those reports all those months ago! And again after you tried to convince me that his parents were murdered! Of course you were highly invested in all of it! In everything that has been happening between the Queen's and the Triad! I thought it was just because of their Triad involvement but it seems I have a blind eye to you and men! How can you even bare to be associated with the Queen's?! With people associated with the Triad after everything that has happened?! Do you even think about your father? Do you even think about how they brutally murdered him?" he snarled his temper rising in anger and the large vein on the side of his neck pulsed with rage.

"Calm down, Anatoly..." murmured Donna. But both Anatoly and Felicity ignored her too intent in hashing out their feelings and disagreement. They both thought they were right and they both wanted to prove it.

"He's not like that! How dare you say that to me after everything that has happened! I can't believe you would bring up my father in all this. He's the reason that I am involved in the Bratva! So don't you dare ever bring him up like this ever again! Oliver is a good man, that's the reason I am with him! He's been separating himself from the Triad for months, that's the reason why his parents are dead! And I was right when I told you they were murdered! They were trying to leave, to start a fresh! I have files proving all of this because I knew you wouldn't believe him, and I knew you wouldn't believe me! You don't trust anyone, and sometimes you do need to trust your family! There is no weakness in that!" exploded Felicity back narrowing her eyes at her stepfather. It was rare nowadays that they fought, but when they did it got nasty quickly and words were said which she often regretted and wished she hadn't. "He's helping us now, I have data, lots of key Triad data which I'm working to decode! I could have never gotten that if he hadn't given it to me! You would never have found it either. So even if you are unhappy by all this at least be grateful, he is going to help us bring down the Triad even if you don't like it." 

"I don't like it and I never will," he snarled back still angry, his fingers turning white because of how hard he was grasping the kitchen surface. "And how do you know that he isn't taking advantage of you like your past relationships?!"

"That's a low blow. Even for you Anatoly," she spat, seeing red. Her past relationships were always a sore point for her and Anatoly knew it and exploited this weakness, often. "He isn't, why do you think I am only telling you about our relationship now? And I've taken plenty precautions this time, I'm not a naive little girl..."

"Of course you aren't Felicity but what does John make of him?" asked Donna, trying to take away some of the confrontation. This was a nasty argument and Donna was clearly upset by it. Unfortunately, Donna had unknowingly stumbled onto another point which would hike Anatoly's fury even higher. Donna seemed to have a knack of making things worse, much to Felicity's frustration. She rubbed her forehead, ready for what she was sure would be another bollocking.

"Well, let's just say he might still be in the middle of his research...?" squeaked out Felicity cradling her glass of wine. She drank some more because it helped slightly, even if she knew in the long run that the wine and the vodka would make things far worse. 

"You have got to be fucking kidding me?! John is your fucking bodyguard for a reason! Why the hell have you been meeting up without John?! You better starting talking otherwise-"

"And this is the exact reason why I never told anyone! I'm twenty five! I can look after myself! I have made several important adult decisions in the last few months by myself without any interference from John, or from you and it was solely because I knew you would over react like this! Yes, I understand your concern! I really do... I know the Triad are dangerous, but Oliver has been looking after me... You need to trust me on this! I know what's good for me and right now that is Oliver... He's helping and well..." She trailed off, she was lying through her teeth to her parents. And she knew it was wrong, they just wanted to protect her, but she needed to do this, for herself and for her father... And well she had to be believable right? "I love him..."

"Un-fucking-believable... Where is John?! He better have that research on Queen right now..."

"He's in my study going over some of my files on the Queen's. Everything I say I have proof of... All the information I have gathered... Just... Anatoly, please give him a chance..." pleaded Felicity, she needs this to work for herself. And for Oliver, for some reason she felt the need to protect him, from the Triad yes that was inevitable, but she would also need to protect him from Anatoly too, if it came to that.

Knowing that he wasn't going to get any further with Felicity at this current moment Anatoly stormed out of the kitchen in an attempt to find Diggle to at least get some answers, ones which he hoped were in his favour.

"Don't mind him, Felicity, he'll get over it, and take care of you... He's just trying to be a father to you..." 

"I know Mom, just sometimes it's hard and he has to let me make my own decisions... I've made plenty of mistakes in the past, you both know that, but I have learnt from them... And if this is a mistake, then I will learn from this one too..."

"I know that honey," agreed Donna, rubbing up and down Felicity's arm in comfort.

Donna knew Felicity was vulnerable when it came to men, it was a weakness that they both shared. At least Donna knew of Oliver Queen, she knew of his past mistakes and had heard the rumours that he was now a changed man, and that gave her hope. Hope for her daughter, because Felicity meant the world to her, like any daughter did to their mother. 

"Anatoly's just worried and he has every right to be, I'm not going to say I don't trust you honey... But you know Anatoly is a cautious man but when he has the facts he will come round... Now tell me about Oliver! What's he like?!"

"I know... I know... Oliver well..." She fidgeted slightly uncomfortable not knowing how to carry on this conversation with her mum. No matter the problems they had had in the past they had since resolved them and her mother was someone who meant the world to her which meant lying to her, well, was hard. And she had to make something up about Oliver, something believable and that was challenging in itself. Yes she did know him, better than she should but how could she even begin to describe him to her mother? She decided to stick to the truth but exaggerating it slightly, she didn't want to get so buried under with lies that she was already drowning in. "He's fairly large, and he works out a lot, and he's kind. His sister, Thea she means everything to him. Their parents deaths hit them both hard, Oliver's been struggling, no matter how much he tries to deny it but he's just been so good with Thea... And he's helping me Mom, I've got data which I would never get my hands on if it wasn't for him... He's helping me finally face my demons with the Triad, so I can move on with my life..." 

Because well he was all those things, after all.

"You know I always wished you had never become involved with the Bratva," her mother whispered, pulling her into a hug again, stroking her hair. "And if he's helping you and making a difference then I couldn't care less who he is or what he's done as long as he does nothing to hurt you..."

"He won't Mom," Felicity chuckled softly leaning into her embrace. "He knows he won't stand a chance if he tries to pull anything off..."

"Well I'm glad of that! When do I get to meet him? Soon I hope, you have kept him hidden from us for far too long, but I understand why. You needed to be cautious after everything," smiled Donna warmly. "Bring him round for dinner on Sunday, and his sister... If he's going to be an important part of your life we just have to meet him..."

Felicity knew it was true, seeing as they were engaged which maybe her Mother didn't quite know yet, but she would soon. Felicity knew dinner was going to be an awkward event, it was inevitable, there was no way that Anatoly was going to manage to adjust well to this sudden development in her life within a couple of days, even within a couple of weeks. She was sure that eventually, maybe in a couple of months or perhaps years he would be able to fully appreciate this. But years?! Felicity gulped again only now realising what she had really signed her life away for? That was another thing they needed to discuss. They had so much to talk about and plan, both her and Oliver needed to be on the same page for this all to work out.

"But what about Anatoly...?" asked Felicity, the hesitation in her voice.

"He'll be fine with it by then, as long as John gives him a decent enough pass... And anyway I have my ways of persuading him..." smirked Donna raising her eyebrows mischievously.

"Mom!!! I did not need to know!" Felicity squirmed in disgust, screwing up her face and eyes trying to get rid of the ghastly image that her mother had just created in her head. That was something that she wished she could un-think, desperately!

"Oh shush! It's not like you are a virgin Felicity! And I'm sure you and Oliver are up to all sorts of things!" laughed Donna nudging her side as Felicity groan. 

No matter how old she was, discussing sex with her mother was always going to be awful and awkward experience. It was annoying that Donna seemed to like having conversations about sex. And Felicity thought her day couldn't get any worse? It seemed if Donna kept on at that conversation she would definitely be wrong. Dying of embarrassment could be just enough to actually tip her over the edge of the cliff which her emotions had vicariously been sitting on.

*

After Donna and Anatoly eventually left the night had dragged on. She spent hours tossing and turning unable to sleep, plagued with nightmares of Oliver betraying her, and turning her into the Triad. It made sense for her to have fears, but when it came to Oliver she felt like they were silly. She knew that as soon as she saw Oliver again, all the worries would vanish, he always had had some sort of control over her, something she couldn't describe, and fortunately she was positive that he wasn't aware of it. 

Eventually it was morning and she felt a little worse for wear, the lack of sleep evident in her eyes and something that Diggle remarked upon as soon as he arrived to discuss his new favourite topic, or rather her favourite topic, Oliver. He didn't stay for long, grumbling about how it seemed Felicity had been speaking the truth, and giving her his approval, allowing Oliver to move in with her. Not that she needed it anyway, Oliver and Thea moving in was necessary for their own safety and even if Diggle or Anatoly had forbidden it she would have disregarded their comments. But at least Diggle's approval would make everything easier. And that's where he had gone now, to fill Anatoly in with everything that was happening, and Felicity hoped he would manage to talk Anatoly around with a little help from her mother.

Felicity had just finished her lunch when the doorbell rang, announcing the arrival of Oliver and Thea. Oliver had wanted to wait until the weekend to move in, to allow Felicity to have some of her own space, and to carry on as normal for the week. But the whole reason for Oliver coming to Felicity was because of the danger they were in and she was adamant that they should move in as soon as possible. At least she could help protect them more. Psyching herself up, she pulled the door open, a slightly forced happy smile on her face.

"Oh, hi!" smiled Felicity warmly as she greeted them. 

She surveyed the pair in front of her, Oliver had his shoulders hunched up and Thea had a scowl on her face. It was obvious that Thea wasn't happy to be there, a sulking look on her face, her arms folded in a closed off stance. Oliver on the other hand looked strained, his eyes slightly furrowing as he took in Felicity's appearance. She was dressed smartly in navy skinny jeans and a soft pink blouse, comfortable, but appropriate for meeting Thea, or that's what she had thought when she had decided on what to wear this morning anyway.

"Hi Felicity," Oliver replied taking a few steps towards Felicity and enveloping her in a hug. Felicity went ridged for a moment, surprised by his behaviour before she relaxed her shoulders a little, pulling Oliver in closer to her once she realised that Thea thought that they were really engaged and she knew that from now on her life would be a charade of keeping up appearances, even in her own home. This was something which made her feel slightly uncomfortable and unhappy about, but she knew she wasn't in a position to have much of an option of this. She couldn't exactly say yes to Oliver moving in with her and no to Thea, that would have been completely uncalled for. During their phone call the previous night they had decided that they would keep the knowledge of the lack of a real relationship between the two of them. He pressed a soft kiss on her hairline before he released her and she stumbled back a little, not really knowing what to do or really how to do anything. It seemed he had a strange affect on her, one which she did not quite understand. "Felicity... This is my sister Thea..."

"It's lovely to meet you Thea, I have heard so much about you from Oliver!" Felicity greeted her pleasantly as she reached out her hand to shake Thea's. The girl peered down at Felicity's hand in disgust, it becoming pretty clear to Felicity that no matter what she did right now, it would never be good enough for Thea. Surprisingly, however, Thea did accept her hand shaking it quickly before letting it swing back to her side. 

"Obviously I would have liked to meet you under better circumstances and before your parents deaths but at least I'm getting to meet you now! Oh god shut me up right now... I'm sorry that was really inappropriate..." remarked Felicity shutting her mouth as she turned around and lead them both into her house. 

Thea nodded slightly in reply, avoiding eye contact with the pair of them. Thea stepped past Felicity, further into the hall Felicity's Robin Hood poster holding her attention which she had hanging in the hall much to her mother and Anatoly's disgust.

"Hey you don't need to apologise Felicity, I should about her... She... She's struggling to deal with everything that's been going on..." Oliver murmured, his hand resting on the small of her back as they both watched Thea wander slowly down the corridor. Before Felicity knew what she was doing she found her hand squeezing his in comfort, then releasing it quickly and following Thea down the hall.

"Thea, I'll show you where your room is going to be, now I know it's probably not to your taste but I'm sure we can go to the store at the weekend and we can paint it and get a few bits and bobs to make it more... Ummm hip? Or classy...? Well anyway we can do it up however you like..." rambled Felicity as they followed up the stairs. 

Felicity pushed the door of the room opposite hers (and well Oliver's, they hadn't fully discussed that elephant in the room yet) open. But with Thea being kept in the dark, and Dig that actually meant that they probably did need to share a bedroom together. It was yet another thing that they hadn't discussed and realising this increased the need to iron out everything, to set down ground rules before they got any deeper into this relationship, especially if they wanted to keep this rouse going long enough to take down the Triad.

Thea observed the room for a moment, obviously deciding that it was satisfactory in the mean time and she took a few steps towards the bed before curling up on it, putting her headphones on and starting to blare some sort of loud heavy metal music which brought Felicity back to her days at MIT. It was a well known fact that in her rebellious teenager years she had been a goth, something which Oliver had once teased her about after she had once let it slip out.

"Great, well we can sort that all out later..." Felicity trailed off figuring that this was the end of her conversation with Thea. 

It was rude, yes, the way that Thea was treating her, but had Felicity expected any different from her? No, not really. Everyone coped with adverse events happening in their lives differently, so Felicity had been prepared for Thea to act in a variety of different ways.

"Thanks for all that you are doing for us, I appreciated it," Oliver jerked his head towards Thea's closed door as he followed Felicity into her own room. "This hasn't been easy for her and I'm... I'm worried about her... She's not really speaking to anyone right now, especially not me..."

"You don't need to thank me for that," remarked Felicity carefully as she sat down on the couch right next to the window, the sunlight floating in and landing nicely on Oliver's face, illuminating his already beautiful features. "I know what it's like to be a grieving teenager, I'm sure she shall be alright, just give her time and some love..." 

Felicity looked up into his eyes which were staring off in the distance, full of hurt that his sister was shutting him out. It was clear that all he wanted was her to confide in him, but as a teenager that was hard enough without loosing your parents and being moved into your brother fiancée's house of whom she had never met. 

"Basically what I'm trying to say is don't neglect her. Her life has changed drastically in such a small space of time she is going to hate everything about it, but just be there for her. That was what the worst thing about my father dying was, my Mum shut me out, she couldn't cope with it, and well I couldn't either, we never got on well in my teenage years, but at least now we get on a lot better."

"I'm just scared she does something stupid... She's barely thinking straight and what if someone takes advantage of her?"

"If she does something silly, well then she does, and you will have to deal with it, sorry we will deal with it," she shook her head at the slight mis-wording. She knew it would take her quite a while to actually think of them as a couple and deep down she was concerned that, well her big mouth would get them into trouble. Big trouble.

"I'm just still trying to get used to the fact that I'm in charge of her now, I have to look after her... Make sure she is alright and safe..."

"I know and that's why we are sitting here... Because you need some help, and that's okay to say you need help!" Felicity reasoned as she studied his face which was full of worry and concern all focused on his little sister, something which she was sure she would recognise in her own one whenever she thought or was worried about Roy. "And because you can't always be at her side that's why I think my friend Nyssa should be her bodyguard. She's quite a character but is fiercely protective and loyal. You both can meet her before it is all settle and sorted out but I'm sure you will find her... I'm not exactly sure how to describe her..." chuckled Felicity not really knowing how to describe one of her good friends.

It took Oliver a moment to contemplate this proposal, an obvious rush of thoughts swirling through his mind which Felicity understood all too well. He knew he needed help and the proof was in the pudding or well by the fact he was sitting in front of her.

"I'd like to meet her first, but if we are going to be working on bringing down the Triad then I would feel a lot better knowing that she was protected and that I didn't have to worry about her," he ran his had through his hair crossing and uncrossing his legs in slight aggravation and discomfortable. 

Oliver wasn't used to this, having a woman who had thoughts and inputs, who had the ability to do so. And he was already regretting the lack of time he had spent with Felicity in the last couple of months. She was fierce and loyal and loving but at the same time strong and stubborn. And he was sure he was only beginning to unravel who Felicity Smoak actually was.

"Anyway whilst we are alone, Diggle will be back later, he'll be wary of you to start off with, but I'm sure you will get along when he starts to get to know you... But firstly I think we need to discuss some finer details of this arrangement. For this all to work out we need no holes, no one to doubt us..." 

And just like that Felicity switched to her business mode, fetching her tablet before returning back ready to take notes on what exactly they were planning and what they needed to learn.

Over the next few hours they discussed the details. Yes, Oliver needed to stay in her room. Yes, they were not going to tell anyone about their lack of a relationship (Felicity had twitched nervously here, but thankfully Oliver was too absorbed in saying something else that he never noticed). Their relationship was planned out to a tee, them both having a laugh when Felicity decided that they would have both gone to extreme lengths to seek each other's affection out, something which Felicity knew her family would be expecting she had always had little quirks in past relationships. They both sobered up a bit at the marriage discussion, Oliver adamant that it needed to happen pretty quickly for his and Thea's protection. It was something that she knew she needed to discuss with Anatoly, and she vowed to do so in the next few days, they needed to get the ball rolling.

She had not expected him to pull out a ring from his pocket right there and then. It was a beautiful ring at that. He mumbled saying something about how it had been his Mother's, this beautiful, gold ring with two emeralds nestled either side of a gorgeous diamond. It wasn't too small or too large but emitted a certain air of class. It was perfect and it made Felicity wonder if they would ever have found each other again after all these months. If he hadn't been a member of the Triad, or she Bratva. 

Looking at the ring, sparkling in the sunlight she could help but think what it could have been like if he had given this ring to her in a real proposal? It could have been a possibility, if they weren't so stubborn. She had always been attracted to him and even as he sat beside her now she definitely thought that she felt something, but realistically she knew she was just giddy, the thought of the data grounding her back to the present. She needed to stay calm and focused, to not get carried away. And before she really knew what to say to Oliver had her hand and was pushing that gorgeous ring on to her finger. Surprisingly, it fit her well, just slightly loose, but for the mean time it was just perfect. 

His hand remained on hers and for the rest of the conversation she didn't move it, she didn't feel the need to, and well, it seemed neither did he. 

END CHAPTER

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed this chapter! If you want to find out more about me and my thoughts on Arrowyou can find me as akahazzap on tumblr!
> 
> I also hope you stay tuned for chapter 3 it's one of my favourites!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to say thank you so much guys for the great response I have been receiving from this fic! I have absolutely loved writing this fic (even though it has been challenging at times!) and I seriously hope you guys are getting as much entertainment from it as I have!
> 
> Also can we just speak about 4x01! I absolutely loved the new episode so much fluff and that last scene oh my jeez!
> 
> Anyway thanks so much for reading! And I hope you enjoy how fluffy this chapter is!!
> 
> 11-dino all the fluff is for you!

CHAPTER THREE

Mondays were normally her favourite day of the week, she was usually excited to get back to work, to engross herself in different ways to improve her company and make it even more of a success. But this Monday she would have definitely preferred to stay in her cosy bed, snuggled into her duvet, even if that did mean spending more time in bed with Oliver. Not that she really minded that aspect of their relationship anymore, to be honest their bedroom activities had decreased in awkwardness as the number of nights increased. The few nights Felicity had barely slept and she knew Oliver was the same, the bags under his eyes proof enough. Thankfully, after the third or fourth night the awkwardness had seemed to somehow disappear and now she didn't mind slipping between the covers with him, to sleep that is. Only to sleep. She would be lying if she hadn't thought of anything other happening under the sheets. Several times she had to stop those thoughts pretty abruptly, knowing that if they continued it would be a recipe for disaster. And right now her life was already complicated enough without adding any more drama into it.

But this Monday, more specifically this morning she had woken up with the same uneasy feeling which she had grown all to accustomed to ever since Oliver had stepped into her life and changed it so drastically. Thankfully, that feeling disappeared after a few moments and she was completely content, lying on her side, her eyes still shut as she tried to delay the inevitable fact that she would have to get up shortly. 

She snuggled into the bed further, pulling the blanket closer to her. But she froze suddenly, only realising that Oliver was still in the bed next to her or more important right up against her. Oliver's back was plastered against her and his hand loosely settled on her stomach under her pyjama shirt. Well that was certainly different. Over the last couple of mornings she had grown used to feeling Oliver up against her in bed, but his hand on her bare skin, that was definitely new. She felt a sudden rush inside her, as she settled back against him, relaxing into his hold as his breath tickled her shoulder. If she was going to wake up like this, so close to such a beautiful man then the least she could do was savour the feeling. And that was all it really took for her to drift back off to sleep, something which never happened in the mornings, especially on a Monday morning.

It was a loud shout that woke her rather rudely from her doze back off to sleep. She managed to open her eyes blearily and turn towards Oliver, nudging him in a bid for him to get whoever the hell was in their room to go the hell away. She was comfy, and could do with a few more minutes kip. It was only when the person spoke again that she realised who exactly was in her room.

"Felicity, you need to get up now-" exclaimed her... her mother? Oh god that was most definitely her mother's voice. 

Felicity leapt up from where she was pretty much lying draped all over Oliver. She stumbled out of their bed, plastering her glasses on her face so that she could see what an earth was going on. What the hell was her mother doing in their room at this time in the morning? 

"Mum!! What the hell are you doing in my room at... At seven am?!" Felicity shrieked as her eyes darted around the room trying to find out what the time was and why an earth her mother was here, in her bedroom of all places so early.

"Well you have your announcement today don't you?! Your press conference about your engagement! I knew I needed to come over and make sure that you were wearing something appropriate, and not just a shirt and a skirt!" remarked Donna as she flung Felicity's wardrobe open and started searching through all her dresses. 

Unsurprisingly, Donna had been absolutely thrilled to discover Felicity and Oliver's engagement, she had promptly thrown her arms, around the pair of them before allowing her mouth to spout idea after idea on weddings and what would be the absolute most perfect wedding ever. Anatoly on the other hand had been less thrilled with the prospect of gaining Oliver as a step-son-in-law. They, of course, exchanged a few sharp words before it erupted in a rather heated argument, but once Anatoly had met Oliver and Thea at that extremely awkward family dinner a few Sunday's ago, Anatoly had seemed to calm down a bit and was only now beginning to speak to Felicity again. 

"You know you could have told us yesterday at dinner you wanted to come over and help me," grumbled Felicity as she stood still watching her mother who was deeply in grossed in her mission to find Felicity the perfect dress.

"Well that doesn't matter now I'm here anyway," mused Donna as she spun around a few dresses in her arm. It was only then that she caught a glimpse of Felicity, a look of disgust forming immediately on her face. "Oh god Felicity, what an earth are you wearing?"

Confused by this sudden change in direction of conversation Felicity looked down at her usual bedroom attire: a short pair of pyjamas with a hilarious motto, this pair saying "sealed with a kiss" with a large seal on the top. Felicity glanced quickly at Oliver to see if he understood what an earth her mother's problem was, but he shrugged from where he sat on their crumpled bed. He had become used to Felicity's rather unique nightwear rather quickly and now he always seemed to make a comment and joke about them. 

"When you were fourteen pyjamas like that were cute. But now that you are twenty five and engaged?! Not so cute and definitely not suitable... Oliver?! How an earth do you put up with this?" asked Donna appalled turning her head to see what Oliver made of Felicity's immature pyjamas. Thankfully, Oliver didn't say anything in reply, he was too busy staring at Donna in shock of this sudden outburst. This was his first time seeing Donna in what Felicity liked to call her 'hypocritical' mode and to say that he was surprised was an understatement. "I'm surprised you managed to catch Oliver wearing that! Let alone even getting any! This afternoon or evening I'm taking you into town and we are going to get you some new, more appropriate and adult nightwear, and we may as well through in some decent lingerie, I wouldn't even like to think what kind of comedic pants you are still wearing!"

"Mum! Stop talking! Right now!" screeched Felicity turning a mortified shade of red as she hide her face. 

It was like she was a teenager all over again, her mother did not have the right to mock her own choice of underwear or pyjamas and it really reminded her exactly why they had both fallen out so much in the past. Donna liked to get involved in areas which were not her concern and when Felicity needed her and actually wanted her opinions Donna was nowhere to be found. But this, this was taking things to a new level, she was twenty-five for god sakes! 

Felicity groaned in mortification before peeking out between her fingers as she watched her mother go back to examining dresses. Oliver, on the other hand, did seem to find both her pyjamas and Mother's controlling nature extremely amusing and he pulled her backwards into a quick hug from behind chuckling loudly at the pair of them. Donna smiled up at the pair of them, obviously happy with their closeness before holding up a rather risqué black number. 

"Not that black dress Mom, it's practically backless and definitely not appropriate for a press conference..."

"Well what about this one? You like her in red don't you Oliver?" Donna preened as Oliver pressed a kiss to Felicity's forehead, before dropping his arms and walking over to their en suite. He cast a look back to the second dress Donna had in her hands.

"I do, but maybe not for today, I'm away to take a shower, alright?"

"Uh huh," Felicity nodded, not looking over to him as he disappeared into the bathroom. She shuffled quickly towards her mother, taking the dresses out of her hands and placing them back into the wardrobe, before nudging her mother slightly towards the door. "Look I'll find something to wear and then you can agree if you like it or not, okay? But I need some peace to get ready, so why don't you go downstairs and be useful and make us all a cup of coffee. I am definitely going to need more than my daily dose of caffeine today if I'm going to survive this mare of a press conference!"

Deciding that she wasn't going to win this battle with her daughter Donna, left the room prattling on about dresses and pyjamas before banging on another door which Felicity was positive was Thea's room. It may be selfish but Donna was the least that Felicity had wanted to put up with today, running her hands across her cheeks, a sigh of relief escaped her lips. She needed some peace right now if she was even going to survive the day. Her mother's excitement had caused her nerves to build and even though both her and Oliver had agreed on this, on everything and that she was doing this for well the greater good she couldn't help but long that somehow she would be able to get out of this malarkey before the press conference in two hours time. It was definitely an ambitious thought to say the least. 

Felicity wasn't by herself for long before Oliver emerged from the bathroom, a towel tied loosely around his hips. He rose his eyebrows at her suggestively a smirk on his lips.

"Don't even think of saying anything," scowled Felicity, still clearly embarrassed by her mother. Her eyes dropping down to his hips then up his body before moving swiftly back to the dress she was holding.

"I wasn't even going to..." He smirked back acknowledging Felicity's distress as he wandered over to their wardrobe intent in finding a suit for today. Felicity glanced down at him sideways, a few drops of water running down his very bare back. She was positive that she would never get used to that. It's not that she hadn't seen him shirtless, over the last few weeks. She had seen him in various states of undress, numerous times and no matter how many times she saw him she knew she was never going to get use to, well that. It didn't surprise her that his body was unbelievable and she really should have guessed it by the way that his suits clung on him. And his body definitely did not disappoint, his chiselled abs were littered with a couple of tattoos and various scars, all of which she presumed he had accumulated during his undocumented time in Asia. She was thankful at that moment that she didn't have any coffee in her mouth as the first time she had seen him shirtless she had somehow managed to spurt coffee down her top rather ungracefully. Ever since then she had to keep all this looking at his shirtless chest to a minimum, but it didn't help that he liked to wear not a lot often in the mornings and in the evenings and whenever he did any sort of exercise. But well, she guessed she would just have to get used to the shirtlessness.

Huffing she gathered up the purple dress which she had decided to wear in her arms. She stalked into the bathroom not noticing Oliver watch her go. His eyes trailed down her body appreciatively for a few seconds too long than what would have deemed to be acceptable. It was only a moment later when she emerged, muttering a profanity as she hurried over to the bed and picked up a pair of black very risqué pair of pants. Oliver who had turned around when she had re-entered the room was in the middle of putting on a white dress shirt watched her, his eyes lingering slightly on her hand when picked up her underwear.

"Not a word!" stipulated Felicity, not even sparing Oliver a second glance as her cheeks flushed red. 

It was clear to Oliver then, that Felicity definitely did not need any new underwear, much to Donna's earlier outburst.

*

Less than an hour later Felicity found herself in the back of Diggle's car, speeding towards her office. They had eventually managed to leave her Mom escaping any more awkward questions and scenarios much to Felicity's relief and Oliver's loss (for some reason he had found himself drawn to the way that Felicity's blush reached her ears and she avoided his eyes. How sweet she was all hot and well, bothered. He was never really a man to described woman as cute but he seemed to like Felicity just as she was.

Despite all the who ha with her mother, Felicity's nervous had settled back in. Her stomach rolled slightly as she began to fidget, moving around on her seat, alerting Oliver to the fact that she was very much agitated about the upcoming event. 

"Are you okay? You seem a little... nervous," He whispered, grasping her hand in his as she rubbed it up and down her leg for the fifth time in less than a minute. Her nerves surprised him. Oliver had seen her on the news countless times for press conferences and never did she seem so... so worked up. She always looked so calm and collected on his TV as he remembered fondly back to an interview which had Felicity answering questions like a pro. It always seemed to him that she excelled under pressure, especially in front of the press (even if she did babble here and there) but it was always something that he had admired about her.

"I'm not nervous about the press conference," Felicity murmured to Oliver. They were sitting very closely in the back of the car, to make sure that their conversation was private between the two of them and so that Diggle wouldn't be able to hear them. "This just makes us so official, and the last four weeks have been a complete whirl wind... We both know this is just going to make everything worse, the paps will be following us and how are we even going to get anything done with the Triad?"

"Hey hey calm down Felicity," he muttered back throwing one arm around her back and the other one landing softly in her knee drawing soothing circles on to her bare skin. "You've been working hard on the data, so stop being so hard on yourself, you'll made many small break through a and I'm sure that will only continue... You just have to be patient. And the paps, well... they will get bored of us pretty quickly. There is always someone more interesting, someone doing something more outrageous. We just need to sit tight for a while, go out on a couple of low key dinners and that will be enough to keep them off our backs. And in terms of the Triad I spoke to Anatoly, I'm going to be working with him some days so that will start that bowl rolling too..."

"When did that happen?" asked Felicity shocked. 

They had previously mentioned Oliver becoming more involved with the Bratva and that was part of their eventual plan, but Felicity had never expected anything to happen. To be honest, Felicity was surprised that Oliver was really interested in getting in so deep with the Bratva, after all he had been trying to leave the Triad. But once the Triad fell would he realistically be able to leave the Bratva if he was so heavily involved? Ever since his proposal Felicity had been certain that once this war was over, that he would leave her because that would be the end of their agreement. But the more he got involved with the Bratva the more difficult that would become, and she knew that, as did he.

"I spoke to him last night when you were with your Mum and Thea. And don't worry I know exactly what I'm doing..." He said as he looked down at her. 

Over the past few weeks he had somehow manage to become more in tune to her and he put that down to all the time they were spending together. He had learnt that whenever she was worried or unsure she could bite her bottom lip, something she was doing at that exact moment. He squeezed her hand ending that conversation and they went back to sitting in silence as they made their way to Smoak Industries. At least she did feel a little better as she rested her head on his shoulder, his fingers still running soothing circles in her thigh. The one thing that she liked about this engagement, this marriage, was the fact that she had company, someone to help her get through the day and share her burdens with. And she knew it would be something that she sorely missed once their relationship ended.

It wasn't long before they were riding up the elevator from the private car park and walking through the many offices to her own one, Oliver's hand firmly grasped in her own. They were just approaching her office door when Felicity's work colleague Curtis appeared, surprised written all over his face.

"Felicity... Mr Queen...?" Curtis greeted them, evidently confused at why Oliver Queen was with her. 

It was only the second time that Oliver had ever visited Felicity in her office. The first time many months previously and Felicity would have been surprised if Curtis even remembered that time he had snuck in. But this was Oliver's first official visit since their 'relationship' had started. And it seemed by Curtis's shocked expression that not many people at all were aware that they were engaged, or in fact in a relationship at all, not that that was really surprising.

"Hi Curt, hope you had a nice weekend," Felicity smiled warmly choosing to ignore the massive elephant (or Oliver) in the room. Curtis followed them into her office, closing the door swiftly behind him.

"So is it true?! Melissa from public relations told me that you had cleared your entire schedule this morning for a press announce, and now you turn up here with Oliver Queen! I knew something was going on with!" proclaimed Curtis his hands flying up in the air as he spoke in rapid succession. He watched Felicity carefully as she took off her jacket and hung it up, Oliver taking a seat on one of the couches in her office.

"Is what true?" asked Felicity not even looking up at Him as she began to boot up her computer. Curtis was another interesting character in her life to say the least. Her work colleague was full of life, and at times a gossip, the one thing that Felicity didn't really appreciate about him but he did at least manage to keep a secret if she asked him. When Felicity had first interviewed and met him he had come with a glowing reference from one of the most prestigious companies in Coast City, and Felicity thought it would have been rude not to employ him. And after the last three years she was glad that she had. He was efficient, extremely efficient and the fact that he had been so concerned about her whereabouts the Wednesday of her 'kidnapping' at least highlighted his loyalty to her.

"Oh my god. Why an earth am I just finding out about this just now?" shrieked Curtis as he ran towards her and picked up her left hand, admiring the large ring on her finger. "Oliver Queen?! Felicity! How have you managed to keep this one a secret?! That man is a god!"

"And that man is sitting on my couch, right over there..." mused Felicity nodding towards Oliver who was just watching the conversation amusement on his face. He seemed to be watching Felicity a lot these days.

"When and how did he propose?! And that ring is absolutely gorgeous! How am I just finding out about this now?" Curtis continued, still ignoring the fact that Oliver was in the room with him.

"Well now that's a funny story, you know when I disappeared that Wednesday, well that's when Oliver proposed," smiled Felicity warmly as she logged into her computer. They had decided that Felicity's disappearance would be a perfect explanation for their engaged. They had changed the story up a little bit because being kidnapped wasn't exactly a perfect engagement story but the one which they had cooked up had Donna swimming in excitement.

"Felicity! Are you telling me that you left that Wednesday to get engaged without telling me? I was worried sick when you didn't come back to lunch! And I knew you had gone out without Diggle! You should have just told me I almost called the police because it was so unlike you!" he exclaimed, his demur turning from excitement to upset, and it made Felicity feel bad, even if it wasn't her fault. "And you were off on a date where you got engaged?! Boy I need a drink!"

"Well she didn't know then that I was going to propose," chuckled Oliver from where he sat.

It seemed that that was the moment that Curtis had realised that the Oliver Queen was in the room with them. He opened his mouth and closed it again before he quickly turned and hurried out of the room, the door ricocheting off the frame as his arms swung wildly.

"Oh just ignore Curt," Felicity chuckled as Oliver watching Curtis leave her office, his mouth slightly gapped open, unsure quite what to make of him. "It appears he hasn't quite forgiven me, or well you for kidnapping me that Wednesday... He was in a huff all of that week with me for not telling him about my little jaunt with you, I was hoping that all this engagement malarkey might bring him round a little..."

"Well he seemed fairly happy with the fact that we are engaged, just maybe not with me stealing you away without his permission," laughed Oliver running his hand through his hair, he glanced at his watch. "What time does this all kick off?"

"Well Melissa asked for us to be down there by half nine at the latest, she will want to brief us first and probably give us some sort of idea what questions she will allow us to answer," replied Felicity as she continued to look at something on her computer, trying to distract herself from what she was going to face in less than an hour.

After fiddling around on his phone for ten minutes he looked up to see Felicity staring at him, a frown on her face as she was obviously in deep thought. Her brow crinkled further as she bite her lip, her fingers drumming the desk. Pushing himself up from the couch, he decided he had had enough of Felicity being distressed. He approached her from behind, his hands landing on both of her shoulders squeezing them slightly causing Felicity to jump slightly in shock.

"Come on Felicity," he said, kissing her hair before peering down at her, and boy that was a bad mistake. The dress which she had decided on wearing was a delightful purple colour and had this amazing heart shaped cut out high on her chest, which just showing off some cleavage. But from where he was standing above her and peering down he could see a lot more than he could ever have hoped for. He let out a shaky breath, feeling a sharp jolt down his pants and he looked back up pulling Felicity with him. Now wasn't the time for that. He breathed slowly trying to calm himself down a little, noticing that Felicity was doing the same. "Let's just go and get this over with..."

Without saying anything in reply Felicity fumbled to her feet, following him out of her office and to the lift where they would make their way down several floors to where the press would no doubly be eagerly waiting their appearance. Somewhere on the journey his hand found its way to the small of her back, which she found that she liked, it made her feel safer and more grounded and aware of what was going on. As they approached Melissa's office Felicity reached out for his hand without even realising it, instantly feeling better when his thumb rubbed her palm.

"Felicity, hi! How are you doing?" smiled Melissa warming shaking her hand. It had been a few years since Felicity had really needed to have such a personal meeting with Melissa, they had worked together frequently but they had never worked as closely together as they had in the last few days. Melissa had phoned her countless times in an attempt to get an accurate statement from Felicity in order to write Felicity's speech. It had been a struggle because Felicity and Oliver had both been not very forward with their relationship (unsurprisingly) and Felicity could tell that Melissa was eagerly waiting for the press conference to be over once and for all.

"I'm... I'm alright," smiled Felicity nervously as Oliver continued his torturous rubbing of small circles on her hand, grounding her, but at the small time winding something else up deep inside of her. 

"She's just nervous about the possibility of paps following us," remarked Oliver, releasing Felicity's hand to shake Melissa's. "I'm Oliver Queen, nice to meet you..."

"Mr Queen it's my pleasure, now I just thought we should have a discussion about what's going to happen today," replied Melissa, marching straight on to the task at hand, flicking through a couple of pieces of paper. "So Felicity you will be reading a short version of the statement, and I have the longer one with more details which we will be releasing after the press conference. As usual the press will have questions but as normal don't feel pressured to answer any you don't feel comfortable with..."

"Remind me why I agreed to do this again?" remarked Felicity, laughing sourly, a haunted look on her face. Oliver pulled her into his side, making her feel slightly better.

"Well you have only been seen together in public, a few times several months ago, and with the tragic deaths of Mr and Mrs Queen a month ago, Oliver has been MIA, a press conference is the best way to show your affection and get the word out quickly that Mr Queen isn't just after your money..." Melissa eyed Oliver warily, seemingly to try and sense if this was the case which caused Felicity to move closer to Oliver and almost wrap herself in him.

"That was a rhetorical question," Felicity replied sharply, narrowing her eyes slightly, definitely not appreciating how judgmental Melissa was. 

Unfortunately Felicity had expected this to happen, as did Oliver. It was another thing that they had discussed, how the public would see their relationship. And it didn't really matter how the public saw them, just the Triad and they both knew that the ring on her finger would be enough to keep his protected for the mean time. But even if it didn't matter how the public saw them or the Triad, it did make a difference to her company. The company that Felicity and her father had worked so hard on and Felicity would be damned if this relationship had a devastating effect on her work.

"My apologies Miss Smoak," Melissa replied testily aware that she had upset Felicity. "I'll just go and make sure that everything is set up and ready..."

She quickly hurried from the room, stumbling slightly as she tripped over her heel as she attempted to get as far away as possible from Felicity and Oliver.

"So it looks like I am going to be portrayed as the naive girl who lets men walk all over her... Again..." curst Felicity.

"You know Melissa can spin this story anyway we want it..." remarked Oliver carefully, he really didn't know if that was in her ability, but at the current moment saying this seemed like the best way to calm Felicity down.

"I know, but it's obviously too much for me to manage to actually attract someone for me and not my money or my company." 

Felicity grimaced tartly, pushing herself up from the chair she was sitting next to Oliver on. It wasn't fair that they always thought that she only attracted men for her wealth, after the breakdown of her relationship with Ray he had completed several interviews all of which highlighted Felicity in a negative light. She had read a few snip bits before her best friend Caitlin had found her in her bed a tub of half-melted mint chocolate chip ice cream next to her and she had forbidden her to read anymore.

"Well I suppose it's a bonus then that I'm only after you for your protection then?" smirked Oliver as he watched her pace. 

She wasn't the only one finding this hard. Oliver was just far better at keeping his feelings hidden than she was. He hated the press with a passion, his past escapades as a playboy enough reason to have a strong dislike. Ever since he had returned from his five year jaunt in Asia he had been wary of the paps and he somehow had managed to become a pro at avoiding them. It had helped that in the last few years since his return his family's company had run into various problems and the press had become very interested in the Queens, especially Oliver. But once they realised he wasn't up to his usual playboy activities their interest dwindled drastically.

"I didn't mean it like that Oliver," sighed Felicity, taking her glasses off and rubbing her eyes, she knew that she would feel better once this was all over and it wasn't like she wasn't protected. Diggle had stepped up his protection on the house and they both knew that Thea was safe with Nyssa who seemed to be managing amazingly with the moody teenager. "I just need this to be over now, I thought Anatoly was going to be the most difficult but maybe I was wrong, what with the Triad and all... I'm worried about Roy and Thea..."

"You shouldn't worry, I know the Triad and this will set them back and give us some more time," replied Oliver he pulled her hands into his and pulled her closely resting his chin on the top of her head, she was just so small and even though he had gone to her for protection he felt that he needed to look after her, protect her. "Trust me...

"For some reason I do," she let out a shaky breath as she listened to his heart beating slowly in his chest. His arms wrapped around her, and hers him. They just stood there both taking comfort in the presence of each other.

Five minutes later they were interrupted by a small cough, Diggle had appeared and his face was unreadable for Oliver, but Felicity knew it well. His brow was raised slightly, and a small smile forming at his lips. For some reason it seemed that Dig had become more open to the relationship between Oliver and Felicity and Felicity didn't really understand why.

"They are ready for you now..." Diggle smiled, leaning on the door as he watched Oliver slowly release Felicity before pulling her back into his side, his hand lingering again on the small of her back.

"Thanks John," she smiled as they passed him, and he reached out pulling her quickly into a hug.

"Go get them girl."

Diggle saying that was saying something. He always said those four words before every press conference and it some how managed to give her that final boost of confidence that she needed. She jutted her head high when he let her go, and searched for Oliver's hand. As soon as she had it tightly in hers she knew she was ready.

The cameras almost blinded the pair as they made their way onto the stage, both of them standing behind the small podium which had been erected for the press conference. The calming presence of Oliver by her side made her feel slightly better and she took a large deep breath before starting her speech. 

She began updating the press on the various changes in the company, speaking about the new piece of tech that she had been working on and how hopeful they were that it would be picked up by several companies. 

The press listened mostly but she could hear the murmurs amongst the press, not quite understand why Oliver Queen was at her side. A few people shouted out questions "Mr Queen why are you here?" and "are you in a relationship with Mr Queen, Miss Smoak?" But she ignored them, carrying on. 

She paused for a moment when it was time for her to move on and announce their engagement. She felt Oliver's hand move against hers behind the podium and she let out a small smile allowing her to feel his comfort before continuing on. Five minutes later she was letting out a deep sigh of relief, happy with the fact her speech was over.

"Well done," Oliver whispered in her ear as she smiled shyly up at him, his hand caressing her lower back. 

There was a flurry of flashes for a moment, several photographers trying to catch the moment on camera, before Melissa introduced the questions. Unsurprisingly, all the questions asked were centred on their budding relationship, details about the wedding, how Oliver was coping with the loss of his parents and even if she was pregnant. It shouldn't have surprised her really, after all their wedding was scheduled for a month's time and for most people in the limelight pregnancies did seem to be one of the main contributing factors to a quick wedding. A woman with striking red hair who asked the question didn't look like she quite believed Felicity's reply, that she wasn't pregnant, and it just made Felicity think about how glad that she wasn't. Bringing a baby into their lives would be an even bigger complication, one which Felicity certainly didn't want for quite some time. To be honest it made relieved, that her sex life was non-existent. It had been forever since her relationship with Ray and having sex with Oliver? Yep that wasn't going to happen. It was something that they hadn't really discussed but she knew they both had a mutual understanding that engaging in an intimate relationship was definitely off the cards, no matter what had happened in the past. 

It only took them a few moments after the press conference to find themselves back in the lift, Diggle accompanying them.

"So I think that went better than expected?" smiled Felicity as the elevator jerked into life and they began to speed upwards. "Well I mean apart from the pregnancy question because there is no way that you are going to put a baby in me!"

"Felicity..." Oliver chuckled, warningly glancing over to Diggle who was thankfully still facing the elevator door away from them. Now wasn't the time to discuss children, or their non-existent sex life, especially if they wanted to keep Diggle in the dark.

"I would greatly appreciate if you didn't have this conversation, with me present," drawled Diggle, not even turning around to acknowledge them.

"Of course John, because you don't want to know about our non-existent sex life-" mused Felicity, her eyes opening wide as she realised what exactly she had said. "Not that our sex life is non-existent. Not at all because what kind of engaged couple would we be if we didn't have sex?!"

"Felicity!" Oliver scoffed louder this time, breaking her out of her tandem.

"Sorry John... I'll- I'll just stop talking now..." she choked, blushing Oliver's favourite shade of red, as Oliver gave her a rather pointed look. She was just digging herself into a bigger hole and the quicker she stopped talking the sooner she would stop having to get herself out of it.

They met Curtis pushing himself up from his desk, as they made their way back to Felicity's office.

"Amazing, Felicity! As per usual!" He remarked as he moved to hug Felicity quickly, a news feed on his computer playing a loop of the press conference as breaking news. "You looked to die for in that dress! Oliver couldn't keep his eyes off you!" 

"Thanks Curt, I appreciate it," she smiled returning his hug briefly. "Can you make sure no-one disturbs us for half an hour? We've just got a couple of stuff to sort out before my meeting later..."

"Oh sure Felicity, no problem!" winked Curtis as he almost pushed both Felicity and Oliver into her office, clearly taking their need for some alone time the wrong way.

"Curtis! We're not-"   
"Don't worry my lips are sealed! I won't tell a soul I promise!"

And with that the large oak door thumped shut, Diggle was left outside guarding the room.

"Great and now they both think that we are having a quickie in my office of all places! If we were actually having one here, right now, then what kind of example would I be setting to my staff? Not one which I would want..." She huffed, frustratedly.

"Felicity, I'm sure no-one is thinking that's what we are doing-" she glared at him, making him aware that even if he was lying to make her feel slightly better at this moment in time she didn't appreciate it. "Well maybe Diggle and Jerry do but-"  "And the whole office building, but that doesn't really matter... Maybe it will give the illusion we can't keep our hands off each other which is why we are getting married so quickly..." muttered Felicity sitting down in her chair behind her desk, leaning her head back and closing her eyes for a minute. It was only then that she realised she had left her phone on her desk before the press conference and it was pinging continuously. Oliver looked over at her phone questioningly. "I set up some alerts for us and it seems that we have most definitely made the headlines, at least the Triad will hopefully take a step back... But I still told Nyssa to be extra wary with Thea today, they might do something rash..."  "They won't because they know that if they do then they will be starting an even bigger war with the Bratva..."

But before they could continue their conversation they were rudely interrupted by the oak door thudding against the wall, they both quickly turned their heads, seeing a tall woman come bursting into the room, Curtis running quickly after her, waving his hands in the air.

"Felicity Megan Smoak!" called the young woman, tottering slightly on her heels, who Oliver quickly remembered was Caitlin, her best friend.

"I'm sorry Felicity I tried to stop her coming in but-" Curtis glanced up then realising that both Felicity and Oliver were fully clothed and they had not in fact interrupted anything that they shouldn't have. He headed out of the room backwards taking his time. "Oh you're clothed, good... I guess I'll just go back to work then..."

"Caitlin!" called Felicity in surprise, pushing herself up from her chair and accepting a hug from her best friend. "What are you doing here?!"

"I just finished my nightshirt and thought I would surprise you with a coffee, when I heard on the radio that you were engaged?!" proclaimed Caitlin skeptically as she released Felicity from a hug and thrust one of the two coffee cups into Felicity's hand before running her eyes suspiciously over Oliver. "I know it's been too long since I last spoke to you but work as been driving me up the wall. But imagine my surprise when I find out that not only does my best friend have a boyfriend but you have a fiancee as well!"

"Ah... yeah sorry about that..." said Felicity rubbing her eyes tiredly under her glasses as she took a sip of her favourite coffee. "I've kind of been a bit busy since I last talked to you..."  "Well I can definitely see that! Busy getting a boyfriend and getting engaged!" remarked Caitlin not believing that this could have happened in the short period of time since they had last spoken to each other.

"Well... Yeah that might be because... Well this has been going on longer than you think...?" Felicity replied scrunching up her face, another lie stumbling out her mouth.

"I knew it! I knew as soon as I saw you two in that cafe back in April that something was going on! You were definitely sitting far too close to each other and then when you said you were 'just friends' I knew it was a lie!" Caitlin threw her hands up in triumph. "And it was him that I saw you with that night wasn't it?! I couldn't make out who it was because you were half way down the street... But he definitely had his hands all over you and his tongue down your throat..."  "Caitlin!" shrieked Felicity, eventually silencing Caitlin.

Felicity blushed a furious red at that memory. It had been a couple of weeks after they had first met at the Gala and she had bumped into Oliver, for what would have been the third time that week. Felicity had been going over to visit Caitlin, something which she tried to do every couple of weeks, when the kiss had happened. It had been a lovely evening for April, so she had decided to walk over by herself as she had already sent home Diggle for the night. It was only as she was walking through the park that she literally bumped into him, and he had grasped her, pulling her up against his body to stop her from falling over. She was grateful, of course, and they had started walking together, talking and laughing. It was obvious that they had some sexual chemistry and tension. Felicity had felt it ever since she had first met him, and it had grown insistently over that month. They had walked for over an hour, before Felicity realised that no matter how much she was enjoying her time with Oliver that she most definitely had to go and see Caitlin, otherwise she would worry. And that's when he was on her, his hands cradling her face and pulling her lips to his. It took her a moment to realise what actually was happening before she relaxed, allowing her mouth to open slightly as his tongue ran along her bottom lip, her hands reaching up to his shoulders, pulling slightly on the back of his neck, forcing him to move further down towards her, allowing her to have easier access. They only parted when they ran out of breath, and she was panting slightly, her eyes locking with his. It was a nice kiss, hell an amazing kiss between them and he had promised he would see her soon because she really had to leave. They had only seen each other a couple of times since that night and not in the way that Felicity had hoped.

It was Oliver that broke her out of her thoughts, squeezing her hand before wrapping her all up in one of his hugs from behind.

"I think I'll just leave the pair of you too it," smirked Oliver?

Oliver reached down to give Felicity a kiss on the lips and Felicity felt the same tingly feeling she did all those months ago. It was over before it even began though, much to Felicity's shock. She didn't really know what to make of Oliver's display of affection, especially after Caitlin had mentioned their one and only kiss. "It was nice seeing you again Caitlin, maybe we can meet up before another gala..."   
"I'll be back for tea Oliver..." called Felicity as Oliver left, nodding his head in acknowledgement.

"What an earth Felicity?!" smirked Caitlin, flopping onto the couch as Felicity sunk down next to her, still slightly struck dumb by the kiss. "What has been going on with you?!"

"I honestly have no idea Caitlin..." Felicity trailed off. 

Because what was really going on with her life? To be honest Felicity didn't really know, and trying to explain everything without Caitlin knowing about this farce of a relationship, well that was definitely going to be impossible.

END CHAPTER

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again if you made it to the end!! I would love to hear your thought on my fic both good and constructive!
> 
> If you would like to follow more of my story updates or my thoughts on arrow you can also find me as akahazzap on both tumblr and Twitter!
> 
> Thanks again!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver and Felicity finally have a meal out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Thanks again for all the lovely comments! Here's my next chapter and hope you enjoy it too!
> 
> Thanks again to Nadine, you know why!

CHAPTER FOUR

Over the next few weeks Oliver and Felicity settled into a comfortable routine. Felicity would get up, go to work, then return home. They would have dinner together every night and then she would hide herself away in her study working on decoding the important data. The past weeks had been stressful, to say the least. After cracking some of the data and discovering that a shipment of humans would be arriving in Starling, Felicity had alerted both Oliver and Anatoly, neither who were too shocked by the revelation. (It was a well known fact that the Triad were viciously into human trafficking, one area which the Bratva, or at least the branch Felicity was involved in stayed well clear of). By the end of Felicity's revelation both Oliver and Anatoly had come to a mutual understanding and had set off to begin to make arrangements for an intervention. Oliver taking charge of the ground work whilst Anatoly hid behind the walls of his own home, something he had been doing more and more frequently as of late. 

It had surprised Felicity how nervous she was when Oliver had left her that evening to go to the docks. Even though she had direct contact with him at all times through her new and updated comm system she couldn't help shake off the dreaded feeling in the pit of her stomach. She knew she was nervous, all her usual signs were there, babbling, biting her lower lip insistently and her fingers drumming unnecessarily on her keyboard. What would she do if something happened to him? Thea would never forgive her, it would all be her fault if something happened too as she was the reason that Oliver was now heavily involved with the Bratva... And... and how would she cope? She was only beginning to come to turns with their relationship. She enjoyed spending time with him, having dinner with him, waking up with him every morning... 

Ever since their press announcement they had begun to increase the time they spent together. She always looked forward to him visiting her at work for a lunch or coffee break. And she thought it was mutual, their enjoyment. They had had a previous discussion about the couple of times they had met before his parents death and their engagement, not that they ever discussed that kiss. She never really understood why Oliver never approached her after that... The more time they spent together now the more she suspected that maybe he had felt the same way as her. That he had felt the sexual tension between them all those months ago. It seemed, however, that they had a mutual understanding between the two of them that they wouldn't discuss it now, their lives were already difficult enough as it was. But over the last few weeks Felicity's feelings had continued to develop. She longed to spend all her evenings with Oliver, just enjoying his company, sharing some wine or ice cream. And that was exactly what she hoped they would do when he came back that evening.

Thankfully, the mission in the docks had been a fairly easy one, they had taken the Triad by surprise, that was evident enough by the small amount of men that the Triad had out in the field. Even after Oliver had announced that the field was clear and he was heading home Felicity couldn't help but still feel anxious in the pit of her stomach. She had spent the whole hour, waiting for him to come home safe in the bathroom, attempting to calm herself down. She wasn't used to feeling like that. Whenever Anatoly or Roy went out on a mission she was worried, yes, but the feeling of dread and what if the mission went south and they were killed... She had definitely never really considered that. 

After calming herself down slightly, she managed to emerge from the bathroom and poured a large glass of wine, downing it quickly before re-filling her glass. It was only when she hear the creak of their front door and Oliver's loud footsteps that she could let out a large sigh, her eyes locking with his as soon as she saw him lingering in the doorway. She wasn't sure if it was a mixture of exhaustion, or panic or the fact that she hadn't eaten all day which lead her to run at him and fling herself towards him, her arms locking around his neck as she buried her face in his t-shirt, taking another deep sigh, inhaling his scent, which recently had become a massive comfort to her. It took him a moment before his arms banded around her, pulling her closer to him as his hands found her back, rubbing soothing circles. The pause in his actions made it obvious that she had taken him by surprise, but at least he hadn't pushed her away.

It was a long while until they parted slightly awkwardly. Felicity making an excuse about needing to go and check something on her computer. She never saw him that night when she went to bed and not the next morning either. He was up and away before even she rose, something that had been happening more and more frequently over the last week. She knew Oliver was disappearing somewhere, that much was obvious to her.

*

It was later than normal when she arrived home from an exhausting shift at work and she was all ready to get a large glass of red wine, have a takeout with Oliver, then sit at her computer to get some more of that data analysed. 

"Is Oliver here?" asked Felicity as she shrugged off her coat hanging it on the stairs before pushing her heels off, wiggling her toes in an attempt to regain some of the feelings in her feet.

"He was earlier... But I believe he went out about an hour ago."

"Oh he said he'd be home when I got back..." Felicity replied, her brow furrowing in confusion.

Where was Oliver? She had grown accustomed to his friendly smile and a nice meal together, sometimes with a quiet and extremely moody Thea sitting next to them (that part she didn't enjoy as much, but she was his sister so she just had to deal with that...). 

Felicity left Diggle in the hall and made her way to the kitchen towards that new bottle of wine that had her name written all over it. No way was she going to wait for Oliver to come home to open it. If he wanted some of this delicious red wine then he better hurry up and join her! It was only after she sat down on the stool at the breakfast bar with her glass that she noticed a hastily written note next to their fruit bowl.

Just had to run out for a moment. Hopefully I will be back before you get home from work but if not be ready for seven, it's about time I took you out for dinner. O x

Seven?! She turned round quickly glancing at the clock on the cooker, almost falling off her stool when realising the time was 18:45. Regaining her balance quickly she picked up her phone dialling Oliver. There was no way in hell that she was going to be ready or even look acceptable for a... a meal... or could she even call it a date...? with Oliver? 

Scrambling off her stool her phone still ringing, Felicity bounded up the stairs flinging the bedroom door open in a hasty attempt to speed up her getting ready process. Her phone rang off as she wandered into her bathroom. Giving up on calling him she sent him a quick text asking him to call her back immediately before turning the shower on preparing to have one of the fastest showers of her life. 

After her shower she was surprised to see that Oliver still hadn't been in touch with her. Attempting to remedy that she redialled him, frowning when it went straight to voice mail. She could feel her concerning rising slightly at his lack of contact. Where was he? This wasn't Oliver... They were both aware of the danger which the other faced because of the Triad and both kept tabs on each other whenever they were apart. It was only the other week that Oliver had burst into her office, concern written all over her face because she wasn't answering her phone. They had had stern, very loud words after that. Both agreeing to have their phones constantly on loud. So why wasn't he answering now? 

By the time it reached quarter past seven, Felicity was ready to go and she decided to go and find Diggle to get him on the case. Deciding that she should at least try one last time she picked up her phone, dialling his number and holding it against her ear with her shoulder. It almost rang off again but she was surprised to hear an angsty Oliver on the other end.

"What?!" he snarled, his breathing heavy as if he was running or just recovering from a rather fast sprint. She was startled by the loud angry voice in her ear causing her to jump, her phone slipping to the floor.

"Oh frack!" She cried, picking up the phone immediately. "Oliver?!

"Felicity?" His voice softened on the other side but she could still her him panting. "Oh shit... I'm sorry Felicity... I'll be there as soon as I can..."

"Are you alright?! You sound out of breath?! I've been trying to call you for ages!" She exclaimed, narrowing her eyes as she tried to work out what exactly he was doing.

"Sorry... I've just had a few things to-" he stopped speaking immediately as another voice floated through the phone, somebody was speaking to Oliver. The deep, low voice definitely belonged to a man. "One moment Felicity..."

And then there was shuffling, his hand over the receiver preventing her from hearing what he was discussing, with this deep, low voice. She could make out a few words, "Bratva"... "triad"... "data... "Anatoly" and she heard her name in amongst the words too. What an earth was he doing talking about all that to someone else...? She knew it wasn't her father his voice was of a lower pitch on the phone, and definitely not her mother or Thea or even Roy. They were all having dinner together something which Diggle had been harping on about when he was driving her home. She then heard (well what she presumed) was a car door slamming.

"Hey... Sorry about that Felicity, I'll be back in ten minutes. Are you still ready to go out?"

"Oliver? What's going on? Are you okay? I've been trying to phone you for over half an hour and you weren't answering!" Her voice was frantic as she ran her fingers through her hair, ignoring his questions. She couldn't cope with all these secrets, she needed to know what was going on. What was he doing?

"Hey, I'm alright Felicity," he replied softly turning the engine on, beginning to drive home. "I'll explain when I get back, just... just be ready for going out for dinner..."

She took a deep breath, listening to him breathing for a moment. Realistically, she knew that whatever Oliver was going to say to her was either going to be a lie or an abstract version of the truth. All she really wanted was there to be nothing between them at all, no lies, not anything. Their relationship was already full of lies that the least she thought they could be was be truthful to one another. 

"Okay... I'll see you when you get back..." She murmured. 

Oliver hung up first allowing her to stare at herself in her vanity mirror, pausing in thought. She didn't want to have an argument with Oliver, but she had that feeling that if they did truly explore what he was doing then there would be shouting, and words thrown haphazardly at each other which neither really meant. 

And what would happen if they did argue? If it caused a devastating split in their relationship? How would she explain that to her parents? And Thea? An argument between the two of them would affect everyone and make this whole arrangement even more complicated than before, if that was even possible. To be honest that funny feeling in the pit of her stomach every time she saw or thought of Oliver was beginning to make their relationship extremely complex, but she knew now wasn't the time to investigate that either.

She was jolted out of her thoughts as a loud beep signalled a new message on her phone from an unknown number.

'Your fiancée is getting up to something in his spare time. I've been following Oliver for weeks now, he isn't the man who you think he is... You are far too trusting of him Felicity, be careful x'

She narrowed her eyes in thought. What was going on? Was someone following Oliver? Did they know about their relationship status? 

Pondering for a moment, she thought would it be sensible to reply. She couldn't speak to Dig, or Anatoly and if Oliver was up to something then she couldn't mention this to him either... This person knew both Oliver and her... 

"Hey Felicity!" called Oliver as he entered their room behind her jolting her out of her thoughts.

He chuckled at her jumping, before their eyes met in the mirror. Putting the text out of her mind for just now she let out a small smile as she took in his own happy face and ruffled henley. He really was too good looking for his own good. 

"You look amazing...!" 

His eyes never left hers as he approached her slowly, his arms resting on her shoulders as he bent down to kiss her hair which she had left elegantly in loose waves. She relaxed slightly as he rubbed his thumbs at the base of her neck. 

How did he know that was exactly what she needed at the moment? For him to calm her down and allow her to not think about the text, that was something that she would focus on tomorrow, tonight she would hopefully enjoy their evening, as long as he didn't start an argument. 

"I called the restaurant and changed our meal to later, I just need to get changed and then we can head there..."

"Sounds good," she smiled happily her left hand squeezing his and her eyes lingered on him as he turned to go and get changed. 

They would have their talk later, it would seem.

*

Within half an hour they were speeding down the road in Oliver's Porsche, his hand resting on the gear stick as Felicity fidgeted with her skirt pulling it down making sure that it was sitting nicely. She was nervous, that much was obvious. How were they going to cope with a romantic meal just the two of them? She loved spending time with Oliver, but she hadn't been seen with him out in public for months, and never had they even been to a restaurant just the two of them. He could obviously feel her nerves radiating off her and his hand found its way onto her knee giving it a comforting squeeze. She smiled, and let out a shaky breath, her mind wandering back to where an earth Oliver was earlier that evening.

"So are you going to tell me where you were earlier?" She asked raising an eyebrow at him questionably and turning her head to look at him as he lifted his hand off her knee to change gears. She could see him gulp uneasily, and he continued to look forward, watching where he was driving and not looking at her.

"I... I just had a few things to check... To do with all the work I have been doing with Anatoly..."

"That's funny, Anatoly, didn't say that you were out on business when I spoke to him earlier..." She replied carefully as he continued to drive, his hands tightening slightly on the steering wheel which was the only sign of his slight distress at her questioning. 

"I just had a thought, which I needed to explore before speaking to Anatoly about it..." He looked at her in an attempt to prove that he wasn't lying. She knew he wasn't telling the truth, but it seemed he wasn't telling her an outright lie either. "When I know more... You will be the first to know... I promise..."

She sighed, slightly unhappy with his answer but she knew right now she wasn't going to get any further. She needed to wait for him to tell her more.

Then he was cutting out the engine signalling their arrival at the restaurant. Oliver leaped out of the car and was opening her door before she was even ready, giving her his hand to help her out of the car.

"Thanks," she smiled, her clutch under her left arm as his hand lingered on her back his thumb brushing the cut out sections of the red dress which her mother had been so adamant for her to wear at the press conference. "The Olive Garden?! I haven't been here in ages and you know how much I love Italian..."

"And that's why I chose it..." he chucked as he guided her inside, the waiter at the front immediately guiding them to a table for two at the back of the restaurant which had a lovely view across the river. He helped her into her chair and sat down in his own happily.

"Can we get a bottle of your finest red wine please?" He asked the waiter, his best playboy smile on his lips.

"A man after my own heart..." She smiled warmly her hand resting on his as she pulled her chair in further, trying to edge a bit closer to him. 

"Well it would rude not to get any," he chucked, his fingers entwining with hers after he sat his menu down, already having decided what to eat.

"I love Italian so much," moaned Felicity as she thought of pasta and pizza, oh there was always so much to chose from...

"I remembered..." He laughed, leaning back slightly. "I think that was one of the things that you were craving when I first met you, which was why I thought our first proper date should definitely be an Italian!"

"Oh god," she grimaced slightly at the memory of how her wine had loosened her tongue slightly and how the posh canopies had done nothing to quench her hunger. She had longer for a large pasta dish, or pizza, even a burger really. "I can't believe you remember that!"

"Well I remember a lot when it comes to you Felicity..." They were interrupted, unfortunately by their wine arriving and then the waiter took their orders. "You look beautiful tonight, by the way..."

Felicity blushed slightly, squeezing his hand slightly in appreciation.

"Thanks..." She smiled secretively, she could feel her cheeks and ears reddening at his remarks. "I knew you liked this dress after my mum tried to get me to wear it for the press conference... And well I just thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to wear it..."

"Yes... Red definitely does suit you..." His eyes lingered on her hers, before swooping down to admire her red dress further.  
"How was your day at work today?"

"Stressfully, I've run into a major problem with the prototype and Curtis has been continuing to up his game in arranging for me to meet investors who are interested in it... I seriously am running out of time to do... well everything... And with all the work that I still need to do on your data, I just wish that everything would slow down a little bit... My mom isn't helping either, she is going on and on about the wedding and how I need to be more involved, but I have literally no time for planning! That's why I asked my mom to be in charge!" 

She took a deep breath as she finished brushing a couple of blondes stands behind her ear.

"Ah I wouldn't worry about the wedding Felicity, we still have weeks til then and as with your prototype why don't you either employ or promote someone to speak to the investors, or maybe wait a little longer before you release it? To give you more time to work on it? I don't want you to over work yourself Felicity..."

The waiter returned again, a large plate of seafood linguine for her and a meat feast pasta dish for him. She thought carefully at his words, maybe he was right and she was doing to much...

"The prototype is going to have to wait until a while after the wedding anyway... Especially because I have decided that I am going to work harder on cracking more of the data, I've been putting it off too much... But Curtis is a lifesaver I honestly don't know what I would do without him!"

"I know he is Felicity but every night for the last few weeks you have been working on either your prototype or the data... I just don't want you to be too harsh on yourself..."

"But if I don't then... Then we both know that something else will happen... They are murdering people Oliver, and I don't want what happened to your parents to happen to anyone else..."

"You're remarkable, Felicity," he paused for a moment, his eyes filling up with what seemed like love and adoration all for her.  
"Well... I guess thank you for remarking on it..." She smiled as she saw him rub his eyes a little, he was touched by her thoughts and still upset about his parents. "Oliver... How are you really coping...?"

He swallowed his mouthful of pasta and their eyes met, the tension between them obvious, but they were in their own little world oblivious to the other couples in the restaurant who were watching them. They had been the talk of Starling since the press conference and it seemed that almost everyone at the restaurant was intrigued by their relationship.

"Better than I was... You honestly don't know how much you have helped me Felicity..."

"Oliver, I have hardly done anything-"

"Don't say that, you know it isn't true... Felicity you have done so much more than I deserve..."

"Stop being silly... you are a good man Oliver... You just need to believe it. And maybe in the past you have got caught up in some bad things and done some things which you regret but... well, so have I and you just need to accept that those things make you, well you..."

"You're too good for me Felicity," her name danced on his tongue as he gave her a smile which he seemed to reserve solely for her. "But there are still some things that I need to sort out, I think we both do..."

She nodded her head in agreement. They both had a lot to work out.

*

For the rest of their meal their conversations took a lighter note, each of them learning more about the other. Both sharing childhood stories which had them both in fits of laughter, at one point Felicity had tears rolling down her face and Oliver was bent double from laughing. When the waiter had approached them and asked if they would be having pudding it was inevitable that they would say yes. It was Felicity who insisted on them sharing, exclaiming that there was no way that she could fit a whole dish of brownies and mint chocolate chip ice cream in her belly. Oliver moved his chair closer to her, so they could share the dish more easily but Felicity was sure that the way his hand had found her thigh extremely quickly and the way he was stroking her bare skin that he had other intensions by moving closer to her. 

In the end Felicity ate most of it, well all the ice cream of course and the majority of the brownie, but Oliver didn't really seem to mind, he was too happy to just be with her, in her presence and enjoying time with her.

It was almost midnight by the time they decided to leave the restaurant and head home. They were both silent in the car, content with the way that their night had gone. It still surprised Felicity with how comfortable they had become with each other. Why had she been worried about how their meal would go? It seemed silly now it was over. They never struggled for conversation and well she was glad that they could enjoy an evening together, just the two of them. She hoped that it was a glimpse of how their married life would be. Maybe they could actually make this work? Properly? 

She gazed up at him as he held out his hand helping her out of the car and across the chuckies and into the house. It was dark and silent, Thea perhaps in her bed. They lazily walked into the kitchen as he turned on the lights whilst she slipped off her coat and her heels dropping dramatically down in size.

"Thanks Oliver, I'm really glad we did that... I... I had an amazing time," she smiled up at him shyly, trying to show how happy she was with how their night had turned out in her smile.

"You're welcome," he smiled warmly his fingers interlocking with hers and his other hand pulling her into his embrace. 

"Amazing food, fantastic wine and great company! What more could a girl ask for," she asked saucily as she looked up at him, the wine loosening her tongue a little.

"Felicity..." 

He chuckled, his eyes dipping down to watch her tongue slip out and lick her lips. His eyes darkened a shade and his hand wandered down her back, one resting on her bare skin, the other moving down, further than he had ever done before. She would be lying if she said she didn't want him, right then. All she needed was his lips against hers, she could feel him, every aspect of him flushed up against her, yet it wasn't really enough... she needed more of him.

"Oliver..." She moaned biting her lip as her left hand came up to stroke the back of his neck just below his hair line. And then he was moving his lips moving towards hers, pausing slightly in an attempt to seek her permission and she accepted it, stretched her neck up slightly and finally they were reunited. 

This kiss wasn't anything like their first one all those months ago. This one was soft at first in contrast to their first one which was fast and bruising. Their lips dancing together, and it took her a few moments to bravely run her tongue against his lips seeking entrance which he granted her immediately. Her fingers running through his hair as she stretched up on to her tip toes not wanting to break this blissful feeling. His hands pulling her even closer if that was possible, one resting on her ass. She let out a breathy moan as his teeth lipped her slightly before their tongues were battling again.

"Oh god. Do you really have to do that right here?" drawled Thea, rolling her eyes as she wandered passed the startled Felicity and Oliver who had abruptly parted, both confused at what an earth was happening. "I have to be here in this room every day and I eat here and the last thing I want to see his my brother making out, with well you..."

"Thea..." Oliver warned as he watched her saunter to the fridge and grab the orange juice. 

"It's disgusting. The pair of you are so sappy and it's just wrong Ollie... Everything about this is so goddam horrible..." Thea's voice was still low but Felicity could hear the crack in. She wasn't coping and with everything that had happened to her in the last couple of months it isn't surprising.

"Thea that's enough." barked Oliver, not impressed with her tone of what she was saying at all. Or the fact that she had interrupted his kiss with Felicity.

"Oliver, it's fine..." whispered Felicity as she squeezed Oliver's hand... "I'm just going to go up stairs... So the two of you can talk..."

She quickly pulled herself out of Oliver's arms and looked at Thea hunched over the cupboard. She lingered for a moment, wondering if it was better if she stayed for this but she knew that they needed to talk alone. Wandering up the stairs and into their bedroom she could hear them, Thea was shouting and Oliver was giving it back, just as good as he was getting.  
She was interrupted from getting changed by her phone ringing, the loud nature of it scaring her slightly, she was really getting far too jumpy for her own good. Fumbling in her bag for her phone, she noticed the same number which had text her earlier that day. Before really considering what to do she accepted the call, hoping that now, maybe she would get some answers.

"Hello?" asked Felicity uncertainly into her phone.

"Why aren't you answering my texts Felicity?" emerged a voice that she knew all too well.

"Sara?!" she asked shocked. It was Sara who was following Oliver?! One of her close friends who also happened to be one of Anatoly's informants?

"Are you alone?"

"Wait? Yes I am Sara... What the hell is going on...?"

"Yes who else do you think would be given the bloody awful task of following Ollie?!" she chuckled down the phone. "I thought it was best that I spoke to you before I reported to Anatoly, I think I at least owe you that..."  "I should have guessed that! Oh this is so Anatoly! He is so predictable. Don't report anything to him Sara this is just unbelievable... I'll meet with you to discuss everything and maybe you will understand better what is going on..."

"Felicity... Oliver is still in contact with the Triad..."

Felicity paused for a moment taking in what Sara had just said. Because what an earth did she mean?

END CHAPTER

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Hope you are enjoying this fic as much as I am and feel free to leave me a message with your thoughts and suggestions!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity finds out what Oliver has been up to and has a stark realisation.

CHAPTER FIVE

Nervous. That's was exactly how she felt that morning. Her eyes darted around the kitchen as she tried to calmly eat her porridge without raising any suspicion of her uneasiness. She didn't really know how to comprehend her conversation with Sara the previous night. How were you want to react when you fake fiancée was fraternising with the enemy? 

Her conversation with Sara had ended abruptly. No more than five seconds after Sara's revelation had Oliver come bombarding his way into the room, his mouth sprouting obstinacies not even noticing that Felicity was on the phone or the utter confusion on her face. She had hung up on Sara then without alerting Oliver to what she was doing before carefully composing a text proposing for them to meet up the next day. The need to know what was going on evident to her but somehow not to Oliver who was still wound up about Thea. His anger obvious but the flare of profanities sprouting from his mouth and the unclenching and unclenching of his fist. 

It took Oliver at least half an hour to calm down, Felicity staying silent as she let Oliver talk his way through his frustrations. But she was not really listening her mind to busy focusing on what Sara had just told her. Thoughts swirling through her brain was swirling at a rapid speed because this revelation explained a lot. Where Oliver was disappearing to, why he wanted to marry her - to get inside the Bratva, something which she had unfortunately allowed almost immediately. How had she fallen for this? How had she fallen for him? Or was she being too hasty? Too rash in her accusations? 

There were so many things which still didn't make sense, his parents murder where did that fit into this? And only last week he had killed Triad members... Was that really the behaviour of an undercover Triad member? And what about the data? Was his generosity all a false pretence in a bid to make her fall for him? For her to believe that he was on her side while he was in fact feeding information to the Triad?

Realising that Felicity wasn't really taking in much of what he was saying Oliver stalked off moodily to the bathroom, still muttering harshly under his breath about Thea. Whilst he was busy she slipped into her own pyjamas and quickly curled up in their bed, facing away from the bathroom. She couldn't cope with this right now and she knew the logical option was not to have this conversation with him right now. She needed to wait, to plan what she was going to say, what she was going to do. She needed to have more information to be two steps ahead of him so she could protect herself and her family.

The door creaked open a mere five minutes later, and she abruptly closed her eyes, taking deeper breathes, fainting being asleep. She heard him pause for a moment obviously watching her before he creeped into their bed, pressing a soft kiss on her hair before he settled down next to her his hand on her waist as he snuggled in next to her getting comfy. 

It took all her strength to stay calm, to try and stay relaxed, to not seize up and reveal her anxieties. She knew she needed a clear head to think everything through and find out from Sara what the hell was going on before she could work out what an earth she was going to do.

She had a restless night, tossing and turning and by the time the sun rose she knew she wasn't going to get any more sleep. She showered quickly before nervously eating her porridge great fun that she was up early and she was undisturbed (both Oliver and Thea were still a sleep). 

After she finished she quickly gathered her bag before sending a quick message to Dig explaining exactly where she was going. She knew if she didn't he would be on her case which was totally understandable considering everything that has been happening.

It didn't take her long to drive to Sara's and by the time she was seriously rethinking her plans. Did she really want to know what Oliver was up to? They had been getting on so well lately, their meal and the kiss they had shared the previous night, she had enjoyed both immensely... She knew she didn't want it to be true. That it shouldn't be possible that Oliver was still involved with the Triad because that would cause chaos in her family and they had been getting on so well. She had always longed to have someone so close to her. But as much as she thought she had that with Oliver at the same time she knew that there was something which he wasn't telling her. Something uncomfortable was between them, causing a slight friction in their relationship. She didn't want it to be there, she wanted to be able to connect with him properly. And she was hopeful that maybe Sara held all the answers.

Gripping the steering wheel tightly and shaking her head Felicity psyched herself up. She knew that she just needed to get on with it because whatever was going on she needed to know and she needed plan. Grumbling slightly she pushed herself up and out of her car, her handbag swinging around as she trundled up the steps and up to Sara's apartment. 

It had been a few weeks since she had last been there. That visit had been far more pleasant and enjoyable. They had shared a nice bottle of wine and had caught up on things all things which well girls needed to catch up on.

Taking a deep breath in, she hammered on the door, before waiting impatiently, her foot tapping fast on the flooring and echoing through the empty landing.

"Hi Sara, I know it's early but I really couldn't wait any-" 

Felicity broke off her eyes widening, her mouth forming a shocked oh shape as she eventually looked up to see a rather dishevelled looking Nyssa who she definitely hadn't expected to answer the door. Nyssa pulled her dressing gown tighter around her body and ruffled her dark locks which looked rather bedridden. She had known for a while now that Sara had had a thing for Nyssa. They had been playing a battle against each other, a lot of going backwards and forwards. There had always been a spark between the pair of them, but neither had really done anything about it. But it seemed that finally someone had broken and the less than made up Nyssa in Sara's apartment amused Felicity to say the least.

"Nyssa! I was not expecting you here at all!"

"As I you," replied Nyssa curtly, opening the door wider to allow Felicity into the apartment. "Are you alone Felicity? You should know better than to wander the streets by yourself without John."

"It was just too early and I needed to see Sara, she is here isn't she?" asked Felicity attempting to look past Nyssa to try and get a glimpse of Sara, which she was not successful in doing so. 

"She is here. She is just in the shower. Take a seat and I shall get you some coffee she shouldn't be long..." trailed Nyssa as she gestured to the sofa and headed towards the kitchen section of the room before beginning to make some coffee. "How are you and Oliver?"

Felicity narrowed her eyes at the comment sinking further into the sofa. They both knew full well why Felicity was here but it seemed as if Nyssa was testing her or something.

"I'm sure Sara has filled you in on my goings on..." 

Felicity narrowed her eyes as she rubbed her hands nervously on her skirt. 

"She may have... But I have to say I'm not so sure if I agree with her... She hasn't seen Oliver with you... I find it hard to believe that he would betray you. His feelings for you run extremely deep."

Felicity blushed at that, her ears reddening slightly. What did Nyssa mean by that? Oliver's feelings run deep? She did sometimes think that maybe - just maybe, if she was lucky or extremely lucky - he might have similar feelings. And last night's kiss suggested that but then why was he keeping so many secrets from her?

"I don't know what you are speaking about Nyssa," Felicity replied curtly, accepting the cup of coffee gratefully from Nyssa before taking a small sip, testing the hotness and taste. She nodded in approval because she really did need some coffee. "I know he's been disappearing, and I'm sure as Thea's bodyguard you will have noticed that too..."

"Yes, Sara knows more about that then me..." She looked at the clock on the mantel piece, gulping down some more of her coffee before rising gracefully from her chair. "I will be heading off soon, Thea wishes to visit your beloved brother..."

"Wait Roy? Why an earth does Thea want to go and see him?" asked Felicity, startled by this revelation, it had been weeks since she had seen Thea and Roy even together. And thinking back she couldn't even remember thinking anything remotely interesting about the pair. But it seemed by Nyssa's suggestion that maybe she had over looked the pair. Oh she knew Oliver wouldn't like that. He definitely wouldn't! Her 16 year old brother and his 14 year old sister having feelings for each other would be yet another disaster which she knew definitely wouldn't go down well at all...

"It seems they both have a soft spot for each other..." Nyssa trailed off as Sara entered the room. Her blonde hair still damp from her shower and she was wearing a pair of fitted black skinny jeans and a dull, green, fitted shirt.

"Felicity! I wasn't expecting you so early!" remarked Sara as she accepted the cup of coffee from Nyssa who briefly pressed a kiss on her lips before disappearing into Sara's room.

"I could tell as much," Felicity smirked nodded her head towards the closed door where Nyssa was and raising her eyebrow at Sara suggestively. "When were you going to tell me that was happening?!"

"Well it is a rather recent development..." Sara smiled happily over her coffee mug. 

"A recent development my ass! She has her own dressing gown here Sara!"

"Recent as in over the last few months... But- But that's not why you are here. I have to say I was also very surprised when Anatoly reached out to me about your engagement to Oliver. You have not mentioned him to me in months, so I should be asking you the same question Felicity!"

"Well... Eh yes I have or I should say we have been keeping it quiet... on the down low as the kids say... I mean it's a well known fact in our circles that Oliver was a member of the Triad and you can imagine how well all that has gone down..." 

Felicity looked down at her hands, picking her nail slightly, avoiding Sara's gaze. They had been best friends since birth and if there was anyone who knew her better than herself it was Sara.

"What's going on Felicity?" Sara asked apprehensively grasping one of Felicity's hands and urging her to look up at her. "I can tell when you aren't telling me the truth... What's going on Felicity?"

"I'm..." her voice crackled just a little bit. "I care about Oliver, I have done for a while..."

"Look Felicity, I know I am under Anatoly's orders to follow Oliver and report back to him. But Felicity, I have been your friend first and foremost, you can trust me..."

"I know I can Sara, but this... this isn't a game!" Felicity remarked exasperated. "Everything that is happening between Oliver and myself is life or death, I... There are things going on that Anatoly cannot know about, important things..."

"Felicity, I promise you that you can trust me on this, I can help you... I think you and Oliver need the help far more than Anatoly does, he has many spies..." 

Sara trailed off as Nyssa entered the room, dressed and ready to leave.

"I'm sorry for interrupting, but I need to be on my way, goodbye Felicity, and I shall see you tonight Sara..."

They kissed briefly before Nyssa left allowing Felicity time to mull over Sara proposition. She had always trusted Sara in the past and it had never mattered that she had worked as a foot soldier for Anatoly. Their friendship had always been a stronger bond than that. But there had never been anything like this come between them before. Realistically Felicity knew she had to take the leap because everything that was bottled up inside her wasn't doing her any good. She needed to tell someone everything so she could work out what the hell was going on. Everything was becoming too much for her.

Taking a deep breath in, Felicity fiddled with her fingers before launching into her story.

"Oliver propositioned the marriage to me just before we announced our engagement. You know I had always had a soft spot for Oliver and I hadn't seen him for months... His parents deaths had really affected him, and he just wanted out of the Triad. So he came to me for protection. He knew about the Triad murdering my father, knew that I wanted revenge just as much as he does. So he asked me for protection through marriage, and in return he gave me data. All the Triad data that he could get his hands on before he left them... I never told Anatoly because I knew he wouldn't agree with this, he has always been funny about me getting married before. And my Mom always wanted me to marry for love, and I am, really... really I am, for the love of my father. It's been over ten years and I want nothing more than to finally bring down the Triad, to escape this hell I have been living in for the last decade. I don't want to be a part of this anymore and neither does Oliver. I don't want to have to see a bullet come from my gun and go through someone else's head. I don't want to have to stand and see someone that I love be murdered, Sara..."

Felicity hadn't realised she was crying until she felt Sara's arms around her. And that was all it really took for her to dissolve into a complete mess and let out everything that had been pent up within her. She really had had enough of all this.

"And with everything going on Oliver has been doing so well. I've been working on the data, Oliver has been in the field and I can see how much it breaks him every time he comes back with yet more blood on his hands. He just wants to protect Thea and I believed him, everything he said to me but... but now I don't know. I know he's been disappearing, he's been avoiding meeting me because we have been trying to make whatever the hell is going on between us work but there is something he's keeping from me, and after your text... I'm worried... I'm worried that everything he has said to me is a complete lie, that he has been playing me for a fool and I have created a hole in the Bratva armour, allowing a mole into our presence..."

"Hey hey hey... Felicity... It's going to be all right just take a few deep breathes... Stop panicking... Why have you been keeping all this to yourself?! It's not good for you!" chided Sara, stroking her back trying to calm her down. 

"I've been speaking to Oliver... But when half my troubles are about him... that's made it... challenging..."

"I'm just glad you have finally told me! I'll keep it on the low down from Anatoly and feed him some rubbish until we know what's going on...that'll keep him off the scent for a while, but you have to let me help you from now on, no more secrets okay?" demanded Sara as Felicity rubbed the last few tears from her eyes, her breathing beginning to return to normal.  
"Okay... But do you know where he has been disappearing too?"

"Oliver is very good... Anatoly has had me trailing him for weeks, most of the time he hasn't been doing anything interesting, spending time with you, at the cemetery with his parents. But over the last few weeks he has been disappearing more and being extremely cautious. Making sure he isn't followed. I have lost his trail several times... Which means he must be good! I just know he's hiding something. And only yesterday I caught up with him after he took a trip into Triad territory. I have a feeling he's meeting up with some of his past acquaintances, definitely Tommy Merlyn. I'm positive it was him-"

"I don't... I don't understand... Why would he be meeting up with Tommy Merlyn?" questioned Felicity deep in thought. 

Felicity had met Tommy Merlyn on several occasions and the last time was when she first met Oliver at the Gala. It was a well known fact that the two of them were inseparable in their younger years. But Tommy was still a prominent member of the Triad and if Oliver was still meeting up with him then he must still be involved with the Triad.

"I haven't managed to listen into any of their conversations yet, but I'm working towards that," said Sara her tone turning strictly to business. "Felicity, if Oliver is indeed still working for the Triad, well you know what will happen to him..."

Death. That's what Sara was trying to tell her. Anatoly would have Oliver murdered. Killed. He would... He would be gone. Taken away from her forever. She took a deep breath in, dropping her head into her hands. Oliver couldn't die. She wouldn't allow it. Maybe he was involved with the Triad or maybe not but she had grown to care deeply for him over the past few weeks, months even. She needed to find out what the hell was going so she could work out if Oliver was in danger and to protect herself.

"We need to know what's happening. Keep following him Sara and don't speak to Anatoly about it... Just me. I need to know what you find out Sara..."

"I'll agree to this for just now but don't let your feelings for him cloud your judgment Felicity... You're better than that..."   
Felicity chuckled warmly.

"I won't but at least now I have you to keep me on the right path..."

"Now come on I'll take you to work seeing as you left Dig behind. You shouldn't be doing that Felicity especially with everything going on now..."

Felicity groaned as she rose up out of her seat. Maybe, just maybe they could crack this together. 

*

Over the next week Felicity and Sara kept in close contact. There hadn't been much of a break through as per say. The normal running's of the Bratva and her work kept Felicity busy and Oliver seemingly managed to lose Sara again on countless occasions much to her dismay. It made Felicity more and more anxious and she had been trying with increasing difficulty to keep up a persona with Oliver, to show that there was nothing wrong but her movements and feelings were sticky and she was positive if things didn't come to a head sooner rather than later he would break her which would definitely make her unpredictable. 

It wasn't long until it was Sunday and as usual they were enjoying a nice Sunday lunch at Donna's house. Her mother was talking nonstop about the wedding the following weekend which had somehow come around so quickly. It had been two months since Oliver's ultimate request and it felt like in the last week Felicity had taken five hundred steps back in this relationship. The uneasiness between them had been escalating all week and even if it was nice spending time with her Mother she hated the constant reminder of the wedding and how it was only a week away. Felicity shifted uncomfortably in her chair as she thought of just how much pressure she felt to get this relationship back on track. They needed to get this all sorted before then because if they couldn't their wouldn't really be much coming back from that.

Thea was sitting next to Oliver and now that Sara had mentioned the budding relationship between Thea and Roy Felicity could see it. They were sneaking glances at each other when they thought no-one was looking and sharing a small smile here and there. But when Thea wasn't paying attention to Roy she sat there with a sulk on her face. Oliver wasn't much better either. He was still keeping up a stonily silent glare that was beginning to make the dinner very uncomfortable. Ever since Thea and Oliver's argument they had barely spoken, Thea hibernating in her room and only emerging briefly for food or if she needed to leave the house. It appeared that Oliver and Thea were both as stubborn as each other and neither were willing to extend an olive branch which left Felicity sitting in the middle of a silent feud which she hated and was the last thing she needed with everything else going on.

"And her dress Oliver! Just wait until you see her in her dress Oliver!" gushed Donna wistfully as she reminisced about the dress fitting that they had both attended during the week.

"Mom! You can't tell Oliver about my dress, it's bad luck!"

"Oh hush Felicity, I wasn't going to say anymore than that!" chided Donna taking a swing from her glass.

A shrill ring interrupted the conversation and Felicity paused, a slice of roast beef almost in her mouth as Oliver stood up abruptly before apologising and saying he had to take the call before leaving the room immediately. 

Oliver had been reluctant to come today. His grumbling and strange attachment to his phone setting off an uneasy and suspicious feeling in Felicity's chest. He was waiting for something that much was obvious. 

It didn't take Felicity long for her curiosity to get the better of her. She pushed herself out of her chair before muttering about going to see if Oliver was okay before beginning her search of the house for him. 

It didn't take her long to hear the low dulcet tones of his voice emanating from the library and she lingered outside for a moment hoping to catch a few words.

"The old abandoned factory next to the railway line... Yes... It'll take me about half an hour to get there... No it'll be fine... Yes-"

Quickly deciding that being caught eavesdropping on her fiancé was not going to be a good course of action she pushed the door open Oliver's eyes catching hers immediately.

"Are you coming back to dinner Oliver? It's getting cold..." She trailed off her hand lingering on the door frame.

"I'll see you soon," he hung up before walking towards her, squeezing her hand as he passed. "I need to go and run some errands right now, it shouldn't take me long..."

"Oliver! We are in the middle of a meal with my mother! Can't you wait until we are at least finished before hurrying off?" 

Felicity narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest pulling her left hand out of his grip. She'd had enough of this malarkey and it was about time that he finally found out how annoyed and frustrated she was.

"Felicity I can't, this is a time sensitive! I'll be back and then we can stay had have some tea or something..."

"Oliver I've actually almost had enough of this!"

"Well there is nothing I can do about this!" he said raising his voice slightly, lifting his hands up in defeat. "Just tell Thea I'm sorry and I'll be back soon."

"I'll tell Thea but don't you even think that whatever this disagreement is... is over! Ever since you kissed me last week I have been at my wits end trying to work out what the hell is going on with you!"

"Oh and you are any different? How come every time I try to touch you you flinch away?! Look I don't have time for this. P Not right now. We can finish this later!" He grunted stalking down the hall his footsteps fallen in hard on the stairs.

"Oliver?! Oliver don't you dare walk away from me!" She followed after him but he ignored her slamming the door behind him.   
Felicity paused at the bottom of the stairs trying to work out where to go next or what to do. Her emotions and frustrations were fired up and she knew exactly what she had to do. She pushed herself into the dining room making a rather drastic entrance causing her mother, Thea and Roy all to look up startled.

"Oliver and I have some things which we have to work out right now... We'll be back later..."

She turned around quickly leaving before Donna even had a chance to question her about her plans or what she should do with their dinner which would definitely be ruined by the time they got back.

Slipping her flats on and her jacket she picked up the keys to her car and trundled down the steps, after making sure that Oliver was out of sight. 

She made her way to the abandoned factory. Once or twice both the Triad and the Bratva had had stand offs there. She was thankful that the traffic was quiet for a late Sunday afternoon, and it took her a short but anger filled fifteen minutes to find it, the grey, concrete walls and congregated iron roof with the warning sign enough to make the majority of people steer clear of the building. She knew it was definitely the right place as she saw Roy's motorbike sitting outside which Oliver must have borrowed to get here. 

Pulling up out of view she switched the engine off before sitting for a moment to gather enough strength to move. She needed to find out whatever was going on in that factory. Deciding it was now or never she pulled herself up and out of the car taking her time to wander over to the door, which had been left a jar. She slipped in quietly and unnoticed, glad for once she wasn't wearing her killer heels which would have alerted everyone of her presence. 

The room was larger than she had expected and it seemed that the factory was open plan, large shelving separating the floor into various sections. She strained her ears trying to listen for Oliver, but she couldn't hear anything. Slowly she began to creep along one of the shelves, staying close to it to shield herself. She took her time walking through the factory attempting to remain as quiet as she could. Taking a sharp turn to her left she eventually heard some murmurs. As she drew closer to the voices she could work out that it was him, her Oliver and another man who she thought was Tommy Merlyn but she couldn't be certain until she had a visual of him. She paused for a moment trying to hear what they were saying.

"She's on to us, I'm going to have to tell her if we are going to need to keep meeting like this..." 

That was definitely Oliver. He was on to her? Was that her who he was talking about? Or someone else? What if it was her? What was she going to do... She gulped taking a few steps forward, she needed to know what they were saying, what their plans were next.

In her haste she never noticed an old metal instrument lying on the floor and she tripped over it, letting out a small shriek as she tumbled forward onto her hands and knees with a large force. She heard feet hurrying and rounding the metal shelves, Oliver coming into view as she pushed herself up taking several steps back trying to get away from him.

"Felicity?! What the hell do you think you are playing at?!" Oliver hissed as he walked right up to her pulling her hands into his examining her to make sure she was okay. "Why an earth are you here?! You should still be at your mother's!"

"Me?! Me?! You should also be at my Mother's! Oliver Queen you hypocrite! I should be asking what the frack you are doing here!" she shrieked pulling her hands out of Oliver's grasp taking several steps away from him. It didn't seem that she was in much danger from him, his eyes were swimming with confusion and a mix of fury at her being here.

"You shouldn't be here Felicity damn it, I said I had business to attend to and if I needed to be here then I would have bloody well asked you to come!"

"Language Ollie," chuckled the figure from behind him. At least she had been right about who he was with. Even in the darkness of the factory she could still make out Tommy's beautiful striking features and his dark hair.

"What the hell are you doing here with him Oliver?? He's Triad! He's meant to be your enemy!" She hissed startling forward slightly and pulling at Oliver's arm so he would look at her and take her on.

"The enemy?" Tommy smirked, leaning against the shelving, his arms folded across his chest and a playful look on the face. "Nice to see you again Felicity, however I had hoped it would be in better circumstances..."

"Tommy, don't even start..." Oliver gave him a sharp look before twisting back around to Felicity, his hands grazing her arms. 

"Tommy's been helping me out the last few weeks trying to get me some more information from the Triad, seeing if he can get anymore data for us-"

"Are you insane?!" explored Felicity, brushing his hands off her arms. "This is utterly ridiculous! You are playing right into the Triad hands, and you haven't even had the audacity to tell me?! Oliver you are marrying me in less than a week for your and Thea's protection yet you still think it is a smart idea to roll around with the Triad behind my back?! The least you could have done was informed me about what you were up to! Aren't we are meant to be partners?! How can we be if you are going behind my back?! To think what would have happened if Sara hadn't been following you all these weeks!"

"What?!" his eyes narrowed in shock and hurt. "You've had me followed?! After all this talk of trust and you have had Sara following me?!"

"Anatoly had you followed! Not me! It's just as well I have a close friendship with Sara to warn her off telling Anatoly about your endeavours!"

"Oh don't act all goody too shoes with-"

"Well as much as I am enjoying being a spectator for this domestic, I'm going to have to love you and leave you both... I think you already have your answer... I'll be in touch as soon as I know anything more..." Tommy chuckled, clapping Oliver on the back. "And you make a lovely couple by the way, can't wait to see Saturday's photos..."

"How can you even say that?!" asked Felicity incredulously what an earth was Tommy speaking about? "You have barely seen us together... And in case you haven't realised right now, we are having an argument right now... And it's not going to stop any time soon."

"That maybe so, but at least you can both thank me for the incredible make up sex you are both about to go and have tonight..."

"That won't be happening... Ever!" tutted Felicity angrily as Tommy walked off, she stumbled after him, Oliver close on her heels.

"Felicity..."

"I'm mad Oliver. Very. Very. Very mad at you right now. So if you know what's good for you, you will shut the hell up and meet me back at my house where we are going to be adults and discuss everything that has been happening."

She didn't even need to look around at him to know that he was looking solemnly at the ground, his lips shut tight knowing that he shouldn't mess with her especially not when she was in a mood like this.

*

Oliver made it home before her and he was already waiting for her in the kitchen. He stood apprehensively next to the counter, preparing for the onslaught which was about to happen. She caught his eyes as she put her bag down, allowing him to ease her up slightly. Just looking at him made her feel less stressed somehow and his broad arms folded over his chest made her long to be in those arms. She wanted this argument to be over for good but she knew they needed to hash it out. There was no way in hell that she was going to let him away with everything that easily.

"Thank you for coming back here," she greeted him firmly, several feet between them as they sized one another up. "But I'm still annoyed Oliver. Very, very annoyed, and frustrated! After everything I have done for you and it feels like you are trying to throw it all back into my face!"

"I'm not Felicity!" He growled back, uncrossing his arms, his fingers doing the nervous tick which they always did. "I made a mistake, and I apologise for not telling you what I was doing, or what was going on..."

"And you think that's enough?! That an apologise will make everything better?! I trust you... I TRUSTED YOU! And that's how you repay me? I don't care if you were trying to get more data! I don't care if you were trying to make life easier for me! You were putting yourself in unnecessary danger! If you could have just waited patiently for me to work out more of the data-"

"This has nothing to do with the goddam data, I wanted to speed up everything that's been happening. You want out of this. I want out of this and that was exactly what I was trying to do! Ever since our kiss-"

"Oh don't you bloody dare bring our kiss into this! Stop trying to distract me from what the hell has been going on..." 

He was rounding on her then, erasing the distance between them his hands landing softly on her arms, her eyes lingering down to his lips every time the words kiss was mentioned.

"What you think I didn't mean that kiss?!" He insisted his eyes flaring up with hurtfulness. "Do you think that I didn't mean anything that happened that night?! Felicity goddamit! Ever since our kiss last week I've wanted to do it again every damn day..."

"Oh..." Her own lips formed a circle as she looked up from his, to his eyes which were expressing something which she didn't really understand. Something which she couldn't read and then her eyes were back on his lips which he licked slowly. 

Unconsciously, she brought her bottom lip between her teeth, the heat and need between the pair of them radiating off of each other. She wanted him. Right then, oh god she needed him so damn much.

And it was that pause, that silence with both of their want and needs mixing together which was all it really took. Suddenly, his lips were on hers and they were stumbling through the kitchen her back hitting the counter edge and he was hoisting her up on to it, his arms banding across her, pulling her closer to him. She enjoyed the feeling of him against her. His lips were perfect the way they moulded with hers and the way they caressed hers and made her feel like she was literally on cloud nine. 

Her fingers worked their way over to his waist pushing his shirt up so that she could run her fingers over his abs, over all his scars. She let them dancing across them each individually allowing herself to mark out his body, to try and remember every scar, all the battles which he had been in. He moved his mouth to her ear, peppering her jaw with kisses before he began to sucking on her lobe. She moaned in approval opening her legs wider, allowing Oliver to move closer to her. She rocked her hips slightly releasing a happy sigh from her lips enjoying the friction created by their movements. His lips made their way down to the jut where her neck met her shoulder and he sucked hard which she was positive would mark her skin. 

His hand wandered up her thigh making its way underneath her skirt and as much as that caused her to moan it also jolted something inside her. His hands were making there way up her thighs and his lips on her neck but what the hell was she doing? They were trying to have a serious conversation which had somehow escalated into an argument and they weren't meant to be all over each other on the kitchen counter. This was not how their conversation was meant to end. On the contrary, they needed to sort everything else and not jump each other's skins.

"Oliver..." she squeaked, freezing as he continued to suck on her neck. She peered past his shoulder the kitchen coming into focus which caused all her thought, frustrations and anger to come flooding back with even more angst and aggression than before. She was still annoyed so why an earth was she letting this happen? What were they playing at? 

Seemingly understanding Felicity's realisation of the situation they were in and how awkward she had become in his arms Oliver pulled back quickly before rearranging his shirt and running his hands through his hair.

"Felicity-"

"Don't... Oliver we can't," sobbed Felicity, pushing herself off of the counter and sorting out her own skirt and shirt. She brushed a tear away from under her glasses. This wasn't how she wanted to be with Oliver, a quickie in her kitchen was definitely how it was going to end up judging by how high his hand was on her thigh and the way his lips were all over her. 

Over the last week she had thought about being with him and how it would feel. She knew she didn't want it like that, she didn't want to feel cheap and used and that's definitely how she would have felt if they didn't stop. She turned to look at Oliver who had his back towards her, his hands running through his hair. She needed a break, a time out. They couldn't continue their conversation like this without doing something that they both would regret. 

She took in a noisy gasp of air and then she was stalking out of the room quickly and running up the stairs, slamming their bedroom door shut before turning around and bursting into tears. It wasn't long before she heard him thundering up the stairs and the door handle rattling as he tried to open their door.

"Felicity! Felicity! Let me in! Please!" he shouted through the door his fist banging on it. She ignored him at first pacing the room as tears ran down her cheeks obstructing her view. 

"Please Felicity... let us just talk about this..." his voice was softer now and she would be lying if she said she didn't hear the emotion thick in his voice. They needed to talk. Why did they always need to talk? But she knew now wasn't the time for that. She just wanted to be left alone...

"Oliver, just leave me alone, please..." She called back through her tears, depositing her glasses on the bedside table and rubbing her eyes, sinking down onto the bed for a moment to try and gather herself up.

"Felicity, I'm sorry, I just... Please can we just talk about... about everything..." his voice was quiet but she just couldn't have this conversation right now.

"Oliver, please I just need some time..." she whispered back, just loud enough for him to hear. And she heard his exasperated sigh on the other side of the door and his quiet steps away. The least he could do was give her time.

It was only after her shower that Felicity really came to terms with what had happened and what they had done. Thinking about it now as she lay on his side of the bed inhaling his scent which gave her so much comfort. Why was she surprised that they had ended up kissing again? That they had almost had sex? She had wanted to be with Oliver for so long, the sexual tension between them had been growing so rapidly out of both of their control since they had started living together that she hadn't really had much control left. Neither of them had. They needed to talk. It was only now that it was dawning on her that she had really over reacted this evening. She knew they would kiss again, her talk with Sara had suggested that with Oliver she never thought straight, she had a soft spot for him. 

There was a knock at the door and she was pushing herself to her feet, her tissue still in her hand as she unlocked their bedroom door and opened it quickly expecting to see her Oliver standing tall and looming over her. But much to her surprise it was someone her own size, Thea who was holding a couple of cups of hot chocolate with whipped cream and mini-marshmallows floating on the top.

"I heard the two of you arguing earlier and thought you might need some girl time and cheering up," hummed Thea taking in Felicity's swollen red eyes and the large jumper which belonged to Oliver which she had put on for comfort. Felicity took a few steps back into the room surprised as Thea followed her over to her couch and placed the mugs on the wooden table.

"Thanks Thea," Felicity smiled softy picking up one of the mugs and taking a small drink from it. Hot chocolate was exactly what she needed right then to finally calm herself down.

"Are you and Oliver alright?" asked Thea timidly, watching Felicity over her own drink, as she pulled her legs up onto the chair. "Mom and Dad used to fight all the time and I hated it... I thought that you and Oliver were different... I have never heard you fight before tonight..."

"We... we just had a slight disagreement... And something's were said and done rashly..." Felicity replied, choosing her words carefully.

"You... You aren't going to break up are you?" she asked quietly. It was then that Felicity saw Thea for who she truly was. Just a timid teenager who was trying so hard to be so strong after her parents had died and with everything happening with the Triad she was just trying to be brave and her fierce persona was a front to how truly scared she was. "I know I haven't exactly been kind to you since we moved in, but... But I like living here with you and Oliver... and you have made Oliver so happy... He hasn't been like this since he left for Asia all those years ago... It's at times like these that I feel like I have my old brother back..."

"Oh Thea..." murmured Felicity putting both of their cups down on the table and pulling her into a tight hug allowing Thea to rest her head on Felicity's chest. "We just had a disagreement, a large one at that, but that's only natural when you are spending some much time with one person. There are always going to be stuff someone does that you aren't going to agree with but you make sacrifices... Sacrifices if its someone that you... someone that you love..." the word got stuck in her throat for a moment and it all of a sudden became so clear to her. She loved him. Oh god she really did. She loved the way he held her in bed, the way he worried about her if she was away too long and spending the evening with him. She should have listened to Nyssa. Of course it was obvious to everyone else that they loved each other. Everyone else but themselves.

"Felicity?!" asked Thea after a few moments of silence as Felicity stared off into the distance still stroking Thea's hair.

"I... I... I just need to speak to Oliver..." muttered Felicity still staring off in the distance. They needed to talk and maybe they could sort everything out.

"He was pacing the kitchen and then he went out. I don't know where he went..." replied Thea sitting up a bit straighter to look at Felicity properly. "He was a mess..."

"I'm sure he will be back soon, and then we can have a proper talk..." promised Felicity as she sat up straighter. "But first I think we need to start spending more time together, you are going to be my sister-in-law after all..."

  "I'd like that..." Thea smiled and it felt like a weight lifted off her chest. Not only was she going to sort everything out with Oliver she was going to get to know Thea and spend time with her was something that she had wanted to do for a while now.

They needed to have this conversation once and for all and it could wait until morning. But Felicity didn't want it to wait. She needed to be the strong one here and it was less than six days until they were meant to get married. She wanted for all this to be sorted out before then. And she really needed to tell him that she loved him.

END CHAPTER


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not posting the new chapter last week! Hope you enjoy this one!

CHAPTER SIX

Thea left Felicity alone in her room not long after they had finished their hot chocolate, promising to spend more time with her something which they both needed. The break through with Thea pleased her as Felicity had been so concerned about the teenagers state of mind and the fact that this argument with Oliver had somehow managed to allow Thea to open up was definitely a positive aspect of this whole disaster. 

However, it wasn't long until the eery silence and the lack of Oliver in their room got to her. It was a constant reminder that he wasn't here, with her where he should be. 

She lost track of time as she sat there, hoping that Oliver would suddenly make a reappearance, that they would be able to hash out their differences, and make up. With the life that they lead it felt silly to waste time arguing, but it was only natural in a relationship to argue... Right?! And with the sudden realisation that she wanted to be with Oliver completely and how she wanted all their differences to be sorted out made her yearn for him to be back here. She wanted for them to get back to normal... to whatever their normal was. And she really wanted him back now.

As the minutes went by the uneasiness in her stomach returned. Why wasn't he coming back? Had she scared him away? What if he didn't come back? And if Sara was wrong? That he didn't have any feelings for her? 

Sighing frustratedly, she quickly thumbed out a text, asking where he was and for him to come back home and back to her. For the rest of the evening she half watched her phone and the door as she took her time getting ready for bed, slowly taking off her make up and getting into bed, glancing towards the door every couple of minutes, hopefully. But by the time she was snuggled under the blankets she still hadn't heard a peep from him. As much as it was unlike Oliver to not be in contact with her they had never had an argument to this scale, and realistically she knew that she needed to give him a little while to calm down as well. She had needed her moment to collect herself so the least she could hope was allow him to have his and hope that he would be back soon. She knew he had to come back eventually. He would never leave Thea and as long as she was still living with her she knew he would come back, he would do anything for his sister. It took her a while, but eventually she met sleep, her eyes easing shut but the fact that Oliver wasn't there with her playing an uneasy feeling throughout the night.

It was the worst nights sleep that Felicity had ever had in recent years. She had woken up several times in the night reaching over for Oliver, but when her hand grasped the empty sheets and not his lean body she knew she had to check her phone. And every time she was disappointed to see no new message, no missed call. He obviously wasn't missing her as much as she was him, and that fact made her even more upset and confused. 

It wasn't long before she gave up on sleeping. Rising before her alarm, she quickly searched through the house, hopeful that maybe Oliver had come back during the night and had decided to sleep in one of the guest bedrooms but by the end of her search she had realised that he wasn't here. Her movements were sluggish as she took her time getting ready for work, eating her breakfast painstakingly slowly in an attempt to prolong her stay at home, hoping that Oliver would come stumbling through her door. 

"Felicity, we need to leave..." probed Diggle for the fifth time, his hands resting on one of the kitchen chairs as he gazed concerned at Felicity.

"Hmm...?" she asked, not really paying attention to what he was saying as she busily looked at her phone, willing Oliver to call her.

"Felicity, we need to leave now to make we make it to your offices on time..." Diggle pressed raising his eyes at her before she eventually glanced up at him, her face still scrunched up in concern. "I'm sure Oliver will be back soon, I'll get Nyssa to keep an eye out as she waits for Thea..."

"Thanks John," she grimaced, emptying her hardly touched bowl of cereal into the bin before slouching after him out of the house, only stopping to put her shoes on and grab her bag.

The drive to her work was strained. She didn't really have much to say and she could tell by Diggle's continuing glances in his rear mirror that he was concerned about her. Trying to not show how upset she really was she busied herself on her phone, keeping herself updated on the news, searching for any clue of where he was.

"So do you want to talk about it?" Diggle asked as they waited at traffic lights his eyes peering at her through the mirror.

"Not really..." replied Felicity avoiding glancing up at Diggle, her fingers knotting on her skirt as she gave up looking at her phone.

"You know I'm not really concerned Felicity..." John spoke carefully thinking about his words as Felicity caught his eye in the mirror. "Look, what I mean Felicity is that it's obvious that you mean the world to him, and I know the pair of you said... Some stern words last night, but once he has calmed down I'm sure that everything will be back to normal..."

"Hopefully," murmured Felicity as she glanced out of the window, the buildings flying past them, slightly uncomfortable with having this conversation with Dig because of all the secrets between them. He didn't really know what was going on between Oliver and herself and it was only now that she was doubting not revealing this whole situation - their fake relationship to Dig earlier.

"Look Felicity, if this had happened a month ago, I would have been concerned," he stated, as he turned a corner smoothly. "But Oliver's proved himself, and I know everything will be fine for the wedding this Saturday, you just need to have a little more confidence..."

There wasn't much Felicity could say to that without revealing everything that was happening between herself and Oliver. Deciding that nodding was the only way for her to acknowledge his comments but remain silent she sat back into the seat, and thumbed through her phone again.

It was still relatively quiet when they got to her offices, as usual she walked through the floor to her office the staff there watching her in silence. Within her company she did have a fierce persona, as a hard, shrewd woman. But in the last few years she had become more relaxed in certain aspects, but she knew what she was working towards. To be honest, she had gotten used to her work persona, she never liked the way she was viewed here but in her working environment it was a necessity especially when in the last few years she had to let people go. It also never helped that there was great speculation about her involvement with the Bratva, something which she was not happy with and neither was Anatoly.

As soon as she hung up her coat and purse she dove into her work in an attempt to make her forget about Oliver and his disappearance. By the time it was half nine a shrill ring emitted from her phone causing her to jump up startled. She quickly pushed all the papers around, searching for her phone which she had some how managed to lose amongst everything on her desk. Eventually, she found it under a particularly large stack of papers which she still had to go through. She let out a frustrated sigh when she realised that it was Caitlin her best friend calling her and not Oliver. But never the less she answered, even though she was slightly disgruntled.

"Hi Caitlin..." She trailed off, pushing her glasses up her nose slightly to stop them from falling down even more.

"Are you almost here?" replied the cheerful voice of her best friend.

"Here? What do you mean Caitlin? I'm at work..." Felicity narrowed her eyes slightly in confusion what was Caitlin on about?

"Oh so you can remember to go to work but you can't remember to meet one of your oldest friends for a last coffee before you get hitched?!" chuckled Caitlin through the receiver.

"Caitlin?! Wait what?" asked a startled Felicity, as she dropped the pen she had been fiddling with on to her desk and looked up confused.

"Me and you, coffee? We were meant to meet this morning but it seems that you have somehow managed to forget?" laughed Caitlin. It took Felicity a moment to realise that it was Monday and like every last Monday of the month they were meant to meet up for an early coffee.

"What? Today?! I'm so sorry Caitlin! I completely forgot about meeting you... My minds been... well I've had a lot to think about the last few days..." Felicity trailed off as looked haphazardly around her office.

"I can tell," chuckled Caitlin as she noisily took a sip of her coffee. "It's been what? Three years since you last bailed on our coffee meeting without letting me know. And the last time was because of Cooper, what's happening Felicity?"

Sighing Felicity raked a hand underneath her glasses, closing her eyes blearily. Sometimes she wished that Caitlin didn't know her as well as she did, life would be some what easier.

"What's going on with you and Oliver?" Caitlin prompted, her voice narrowing down the phone at Felicity's lack of any answer.

"Well we've been arguing over quite a lot of things over the weekend, and well... He never came back last night and I haven't even heard from him this morning... And I'm really worried about him! What if something has happened to him? What if he's injured and the last thing that happened between us is an argument? Oh god I really hope he's alright... I didn't really want any of this to happen! It was only after I left that I realised how damn stupid all this arguing was, and that I just want him back," she let all her feelings out in a rapid onslaught, as she brushed away a stray tear which lingered on her cheek. Why wasn't he here when she needed him? 

"Hey hey! Calm down Felicity, stop worrying, I'm sure Oliver will be fine, he's probably just gone out on one of those male benders and crashed at one of his friends..." soothed Caitlin trying to calm Felicity down. "And I'm sure he'll be waking up, hungover as hell which serves him right for putting you through this torture and he'll come in there apologising..."

"But Caitlin, this is really not like him, and this argument-"

"Felicity, I'm being serious... You worry too much. He will be back before you know it and then you can just think about all the make up sex you two will be having later!" She smirked down the phone as Felicity scrambled around in her chair, glad that Caitlin wasn't there in person to see her reddening cheeks.

"Caitlin!" She scoffed.

"What? I've seen those pap pictures of him in the park when he 'accidentally' revealed those abs to everyone, and boy do you definitely have yourself a looker!"

"I think we can end this conversation about my fiancée!" squeaked Felicity squeezing her eyes shut in discomfort.

"Okay, but seriously Felicity do you want me to come over? I'm just a few blocks away from your work and I can easily nip in for a few moments if you would like?" 

"It's fine Cait, I've got so much work to do with the wedding and taking time off for our honeymoon I really should concentrate on work..."

"But if you need me just remember I'm just a call-"

But before Caitlin could even finish her sentence Felicity had dropped her phone in shock. Diggle had come barging into the room, one hand on his phone the other grasping for his gun which she knew he normally kept safely hidden in a holster behind his back.

"Felicity, we need to go right now." He shouted hard, as Felicity fumbled for her phone on the ground. "Now now now come on Felicity!"

Jumping to her feet her phone in her hand she quickly started towards Diggle.

"I'm sorry Caitlin's something has come up..." Felicity basically shouted into the phone before hanging up and grabbing her bag and following Diggle quickly out of the office. People were staring at her again, but this time in utter confusion, because this was unusual. Her bodyguard almost dragging her out of the building and his gun on show.

"What the hell is going on John?" exclaimed Felicity as they headed towards the stairwell. Once they were through the double doors they began to hurry down the stairs, Diggle stopping a few floors down to hit the fire alarm before they continued down the last few flights of stairs.

"I got a phone call from Oliver, he couldn't get a hold of you, but I'll explain everything in the car... We just need to keep moving!"

"Is he alright?" She asked startled, pausing for a moment to catch her breath.

"We need to keeping Felicity! " he shouted, grasping her arm in an effort to hurry her forward. "And yes he's fine...."

"Oh thank god for that!" She let a sigh of relief which came out as more of a pant as they raced down into the underground carpark. "Jesus John! I'm not made for all this running malarkey! I can barely do three minutes of sprinting on my treadmill at home!"

"I know, but we are almost there, see that van at the end, get in the front next to me okay?"

Felicity nodded in agreement, before sprinting the final one hundred yards, yanking the door open and landing with a thud on the seat. She hastily fastened her seatbelt before turning wildly to Diggle.

"What the hell is going on?" She asked again as Diggle revved the engine before beginning to speed out of the parking lot.

"Oliver got word from one of his old informants this morning that a part of the Triad is trying to get to him through you. It was literally a five minute warning he managed to give us. Definitely better than the Triad taking us by surprise, I don't even want to think about how many casualties there would have been if he couldn't get through to us." Diggle remarked as he swerved through the traffic, keeping an eye on the back mirror trying to see if anyone was following them. 

"So are you taking me to him now?" She probed as she pushed her heels off, her feet aching from the run. She hated running and she detested running in heels even more.

"I'm taking you to one of the safe houses, Nyssa has Thea there and I'm sure Oliver will be there shortly as well... Unless Anatoly has something to say about this all...." muttered Diggle before reaching into the compartment on the passengers side. "Now I need you to put on that hat, and take the gun, I don't think anyone has followed us but it's better you have them just in case..."

Nodding in agreement Felicity reached in and let her hair down, before placing the cap on her head. She also took the gun, taking the lock off just in case anything untoward was going to taking them by surprise. She turned her phone off also for good measure, something that Anatoly liked to constantly remind her to do if ever she was in danger, before reaching into her bag and grabbing the burner.

"I always have a burner on me, never know when I'm going to need one, and I can't live without my tec..." She let out a dry laugh trying to make sense of the situation but the way that her heart continued to hammer in her chest made her feel even worse.

"Twenty minutes tops and we'll be there," replied Diggle as they headed on to the freeway out of the city. "So just sit tight and everything will be fine..."

"God I hope you are right John..."

It took just under half an hour for Diggle and Felicity to arrive at the safe house in amongst a large wooded area. Putting the gun back on lock Felicity stuffed it down her skirt waistband as she hopped out of the car, following Diggle into the small cottage. As soon as they were through the door they were greeted with Nyssa who had heard their van approaching and decided to investigate who it was. Before anyone could say anything Thea came bounding towards Felicity the tall gangly teenager looping her arms tight around her in relief.

"Thank god Felicity? I was so worried!" She sobbed as Felicity let a shaky breath trying to relax a little. "After our talk last night I didn't know what I would do if I lost you so quickly-"

"Hey, hey Thea I'm alright, and I'm here, no one is going to get me... I've been preparing for an event like this to happen since I was your age, so you don't need to worry... Okay? Plus I have Oliver, and Diggle looking after me and neither of them would let anything happen to me..." assured Felicity as she watched Diggle and Nyssa converse over Thea's shoulder. "Is there any food in here? Or drinks? Maybe you can get us all a drink or something?"

Thea nodded reluctantly letting go of Felicity and headed off to the kitchen. Felicity followed Diggle and Nyssa into what appeared to be a small quaint living room, eager to find out more about what was going on.

"What's happening?" She asked folding her arms over her chest, defensively.

"I got the message from Oliver about the danger you were in, so I immediately took Thea here, we arrived just ten minutes before you. Oliver said that he would be here shortly," prompted Nyssa as she sat down in one of the chairs, still looking around on edge.

"I just got a message to Oliver saying you were safe. We just need to wait for word of what to do next...." advised Diggle.

"Okay, that's good, Thea is getting us all a drink. And once Oliver gets back I'm sure everything will be explained," replied Felicity tartly as she sat down, placing her gun on the table before fiddling with her skirt. The silence through the house was obvious, but no one really had anything to say as they waited.

It didn't take long before Thea came bustling through with a few drinks. She sat next to Felicity not really saying anything either but Felicity could tell that she was taking comfort in just being there with someone she felt comfortable with. 

Less than an hour later they all jumped up as the sound of an engine entered the clearing. Nyssa and Diggle both immediately jumped up into action, suspicious of who it was, even if it was extremely likely it was Oliver.

"Wait here!" Diggle demanded before the pair of them disappeared quickly, hurrying down the hall.

"I'm sure it's just Oliver..." Felicity murmured as Thea spun round and gave her an exasperated look. 

"I hope to god that it is..." Thea replied, sitting back down, her face in her hands. Felicity gave her a comforting rub on the shoulder before making her own way to the hall, peeking out to see if they were coming back yet.

"Where is she?" She heard the familiar roar of her fiancée from outside. Not even taking a moment to consider Diggle's warning Felicity set off down the corridor, racing outside.

She was outside before she could even consider what was really happening and it took her less than a second to pause and lay eyes on him. He was pushing past Diggle and trying to make his way from his jeep to the house. She could just make out his eyes from here, frantically searching for Thea... Or maybe her? Her eyes met his just then and she could see the relief in them because he was seeing her for himself and that she was actually okay. 

"Felicity!" He called out as he reached her, his arms banding around her and pulling her quickly into a tight embrace. "I was so worried about you, are you all right? You aren't hurt are you?!"

"Hey, Oliver, I'm fine, absolutely fine," she said with a timid smile allowing herself to relax into him, finally happy that she was reunited with him. That feeling of dread and unease in her stomach lifting immediately and being replaced with a feeling of relaxing with elation. She pulled back slightly, gazing up into his eyes before stretching up onto her tip toes and pressing her lips to his. He didn't even pause before he was kissing her back, his lips opening and his tongue sneaking out, gently urging her mouth open to develop the kiss even further. One hand was in her hair, the other around her waist as he pulled her towards him. Her hands were on his shoulders, moving up his neck, trying to grasp any part of him as their tongues battled for dominance. She was positive that the kiss would have escalated even further if it wasn't for Diggle clearing his throat noisily with a chuckle behind them. They broke apart quickly, a blush forming on Felicity's face as Oliver intertwined their fingers and he pulled her into the house, now searching for his sister. It was as if everything that had happened in the past few days had been forgotten about, eliminated. Their argument was forgotten for the moment and Felicity was just basking in the pure joy of having Oliver back by her side after all the drama, and well that kiss had definitely been an extra bonus.

It was only when they were back in the living room that Oliver reluctantly let go of her hand for a few minutes whilst he hugged Thea and checked that she too, was okay. By the time he had finished checking her over he had somehow subconsciously reached out for her hand again, and pulled her to sit next to him so they were plastered against each other, taking comfort in being so close to one another.

"Oliver... What's going on?" She eventually asked, glancing up at him, above her glasses.

"For some reason the Triad think that they can get to me through you, I got word from To- an associate that they were coming after you, and thankfully I just had enough time to warn John to get you out of there," murmured Oliver as his thumb rubbed over her palm in a soothing nature. "We are going to have to be even more wary now. Have more security for the wedding. And I think it's best if we stay out here for the mean time just in case. I also you should go back into work until after the honeymoon or until we sort this all out... So we can have a better hold of the situation and what the Triad is planning."

She nodded in agreement, knowing that even if she wanted to go back to work the logical thing right now was to stay put until they had everything under control. They needed to get everything back in order before they could get back to a normal life, her work with the Bratva had taught her that much.

"But everyone is alright?" asked Felicity, concerned about her colleagues.

"Oh yeah, it was lucky that Diggle set off the fire alarm, it was chaos by the time the Triad arrived, and they decided it was a lost cause and didn't even bother to attack..."

"Thank god, I was worried about Curtis and everyone else! And it definitely wouldn't look good if I disappeared for a few weeks after an attack on my company!" muttered Felicity as she lent her head against Oliver's shoulder. "But I'm going to need to get a hold of a computer or something, we need to know what the Triad are planning and hopefully by scavenging for more data I'll be able to write a code to get into their systems..."

"You shouldn't be worrying about that right now... But I knew you would be so I have some electronics in the car, this property was probably the least ideal on the tech aspect but it was the only one which I thought would keep you both safe from the Triad. Nyssa and I will had back to Starling to get a few more essentials and we will set up some surveillance around the grounds. I've got more kit that you'll be able to set up around the immediate property whilst we are gone... Dig, will help you out with that Felicity..." Oliver trailed off as he leaned forward, reluctantly knowing that even though he wanted to spend more time with Felicity he needed to head out, there was too much work to be done. "I'll meet with Anatoly too, to see if he was any update..."

"Just be careful okay?" Felicity squeezed his had as she followed him out to the car, and begun unloading some of the tech he had brought with him. "And we need to have a proper talk when you get back..."

Oliver met her eyes then, his lips pressed firmly together as he nodded. They both needed to have this talk once and for all.

They were all slightly reluctant to see Oliver and Nyssa go but it was a necessary to ensure that everyone remained safe and they needed to get to work, quickly.

By the time they had finished setting up some secure around the house perimeter it was getting late, and Oliver had just arrived back in the four by four with a big belly burger take out for all of them. Thea, Diggle, Oliver and Felicity all gathered around the small crooked table in the kitchen and devoured the meal, Oliver filling them in on what Anatoly was doing which as Felicity expected wasn't much. 

If the circumstances were different Felicity was sure she would have enjoyed spending some quality time with Oliver, Thea and Diggle. But with the Triad looming over them they were all on edge. But Felicity hoped that once this was all over they would be able to have a nice dinner all together. Also the fact Oliver and her needed to have a serious talk hung over them too. She just wanted it to be over with so they could move on with the Triad and everything that was happening. She could tell he was feeling guilty for their argument the previous night and for not coming home or telling her about what was happening with Tommy. But now that she had calmed down her stance towards Tommy had changed. She was grateful for him because if they had it still been in cohorts she was sure that at this current moment she would have been in the Triad clutches or even worse dead. Pushing a soggy chip around the plate, her hunger disappearing quickly.

"I'm not hungry..." She commented wiping her hands on a napkin before rising from her seat. It was past midnight now and the day's events had definitely caught up with her. "I'm just going to head up and get ready for bed..." 

Oliver nodded in approval and watched her leave the room, before deciding that maybe now was the best time for them to have their conversations. Quickly gulping down the last of his milkshake he pushed his chair out.

"I'm just going to go to bed too, night," he pressed a soft kiss to Thea's hairline before clapping Diggle on the back and headed up after Felicity. 

She had her back towards him, searching for her belongings in the bag that Oliver had brought for the pair of them, a mixture of clothes which he had quickly thrown together in his haste. 

"Are you alright?" He asked softly as he shut the door behind himself, and hovered in the doorway. 

"Yeah...I'm... I'm fine," she replied timidly, turning around to look at him. "But maybe I should be asking you the same question?"

"Surviving, I'm just glad that you're here, and that nothing happened to you..." He whispered taking the few steps across the room to sit on the small double bed which the owners had somehow managed to squeeze into the tiny room, it was barely big enough for the bed, let alone the two of them as well. "I'm sorry Felicity... for last night, running out on you, for not telling you about Tommy..."

"I've forgiven you Oliver..." She murmured back, sitting next to him and gathering his hands in her lap. "I know why you were doing it Oliver, and I think it was understandable that I was annoyed, I mean you were keeping it from me, and relationships don't work if you keep secrets from each other..."

"I know, and I know this isn't an excuse, but I was going to tell you, I just didn't know how too..." He replied as she squeezed his hands and looked past her not being able to keep eye contact with her. He was ashamed, and felt so guilty. It wasn't fair that he had put her in this position.

"I'm not that scary am I?" She let out a chuckle, her hand reaching for his face to lift his cheek up, so she could meet his gaze. Her fingers brushing through his stubble, making her feel happy, content.

"You can be when you want to be..." He laughed back, her joke making him feel slightly more easy about this whole situation. "I went to see him last night, and I stayed. I don't know if it was stupidity or what but thank god I did otherwise I don't know how long it would have been until I got the message and then the Triad could have got to you and it would be all my fault. They want to get to me and you are just a pawn in their game. I thought your tie to the Bratva would be enough to protect all of us, but I'm only seeing now that it was stupid. I wasn't thinking properly after my parents deaths and now you are in danger and it's all my fault. I should never have approached you...I should have never started this relationship."

As he spoke she could see the pain in his eyes. He hated that it was his fault that she was in this position, that he had made everything worse for her.

"Hey hey hey... Oliver, look at me..." She protested as he tried to move away from her to get up and leave the room. But she wasn't having any of it. Her hands clasped around his wrists pulling him back down, back to her. "I've always been a target of the Triad, and I had every right to say no to your proposal, to say I didn't want to marry you. But I didn't. I knew the risks of what I was getting into, not that they were that much more than the ones that I already have on a daily basis, because of who my father is and Anatoly. But I wanted to help you Oliver, I always have. Ever since I first laid eyes on you, you intrigued me, made me want to find out more about you, to spend time with you. And then when we kissed, I was so happy Oliver, I felt that everything was becoming right after so many years of doubting myself and hating who I was. But you made it better for me Oliver. But then you went of the radar and I never heard from you for months and I was worried, and didn't know what had happened to you. And the next thing I knew I was hearing about your parents murders and I wished that there was something I could do to help you... I wanted to be there for you. And when you kidnapped me I wasn't scared. I knew even with your Triad involvement that you weren't going to hurt me. For some reason I trusted you and I don't even know why... And ever since then whatever is between us has been growing, you make me feel better, make me happy and I... I love you..." She trailed off her eyes filled with adoration solely for him.

"Oh god Felicity I love you too..." He groaned back before he surged forward and his lips were on hers again, where they belonged. This kiss was more passionate than their previous ones, the pure love and adoration for each other and the fact that they had both been denying their feelings for so long causing the kiss to be filled with passion, with hope that everything was going to change, that they were going to trust each other and give whatever was happening between them an actual go. It wasn't long before he was pulling her on to his lap, his lips following down her neck as she left out a low breathy moan, her hips rocking against his, trying to create as much friction between them. They were right where they were meant to be for once, together, completely together.

END CHAPTER

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! And I also would love to hear what you think of my story!
> 
> I'm off on holiday next week so unfortunately I don't think I will have time to update! But hope you enjoy the new episode of arrow! :D


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas and Happy holidays my friends! Now I know it's been a month since I last posted - I'm so sorry- but I have been so busy at work, and with December being such a busy month!
> 
> Anyway hope you all get to spend time with your loved ones and enjoy this morning after!
> 
> I have also started to post my Olicity Big Bang fic which is called "An Unexpected Gift" it's an au where Felicity and Oliver reunite and she ends up with an unexpected gift! I'd love for you to take a look at it if you have the time!

Chapter Seven

Happiness. That's what she felt when she woke up the next morning. All her exhaustion from the previous day had some how disappeared. The feeling of contentment rolled through her as she snuggled further into her cocoon of Oliver's arms, which she realised was the only logical explanation for her having a restless nights sleep. There was some thing nice about just being there with him, lying naked with finally, nothing between them. Nothing at all, both literally and metaphorically. She pushed herself back against him, feeling his warmth, the way her back was pressed into his stomach and his hand resting over hers. It was like he was making sure she was right there and there was no way she could escape without waking him up. He didn't want to let her go, at least not yet, anyway. She wiggled slightly, attempting to turn around, to face him and see if he was awake, to get a glimpse of those blue eyes which she loved dearly. He let out a low groan as she turned and she pressed a sloppy kiss to his chest, before brushing off the wetness. He peeked his eyes open groggily, taking his surrounding in for a moment before squeezing her hip and letting a blissful smile appear on his face when he registered, that she was here with him and that they were both well and truly naked.

"Good morning," she smiled as she peered up at him over his abs, a contented smile pulling happily on her lips.

"Morning Felicity," he chuckled back, his fingers dancing of her bare shoulders as he lent down to press a chaste kiss to her.

"So I guess that happened..." She murmured as their lips parted and she curled into his side. Their legs intertwined further and her hands traced the scars across his chest. She took her time memorising each and everyone, engraving them into her memory.

"I'm glad it did," he replied pressed a firm kiss into her hair line, chuckling softly as her blonde tips tickled his chest.

"Me too," she teased. "I think I've been waiting for well... that to happen for a while now, and after Sunday and our argument I'm just glad that we managed to do this and sort everything out, between us, especially before Saturday and the wedding..."

"Yes, I think I can definitely agree with that. And after yesterday as well. I was scared that I was going to lose you, without being able to tell you truly how I feel... I was just a big mess, but I'm grateful that we have had this chance to sort it out..." he spoke with his eyes, full of the emotions which he had kept in for so long before leaning down and littering her shoulders with several kisses.

"I'm glad we did too, I think now we are on the same page... And at least now we can concentrating on sorting out this mess together," she smiled as he spun her into her back, his legs bracketing hers and his lips finding hers again. He began to repeat what he had begun the previous night. She could never get bored of this. The two of them becoming one.

*

It was at least an hour later before Oliver and Felicity finally managed to drag themselves away from each other and emerge from their bedroom ready to face the day a head of them. It wasn't late per say, just after ten, but as they both arrived in the kitchen they were greeted with both Thea and Diggle, one who looked a little disgruntled, the other a large beaming smile dripping from her cheeks.

"Nice to see the pair of you finally emerge," smirked Thea as she sat perched on one of the stools as she swirled her spoon in some sort of cereal.

"Morning Thea," smiled Oliver as he pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. Oliver headed towards the cupboards in search for some coffee because he knew exactly what Felicity was like if she didn't get her morning dose.

"You seem to both be in an extremely good mood this morning," Thea raised her eyebrow questioningly at Felicity, a few giggles erupting from her mouth which she tried so desperately hard to keep in. It was obviously what the young teen was going on about and Felicity blushed a deep shade of maroon, mortified that Thea knew exactly what she had been doing with Thea's older brother a mere fifteen minutes ago.

"Well we managed to well... you know... sort somethings, well I mean our differences out last night," she squeaked, blushing as she busied herself with sorting out some mugs and bowls for Oliver and herself.

"Oh so that's what you guys are calling that noises that you made last night and this morning?" Thea raised her eyes mischievously, snorting into her milk. "Seriously as glad I am that you guys have made up and are getting back down to business do you guys think you could maybe refrain from having sex here again? I mean the walls are literally paper thin and we could hear everything, literally everything. Couldn't we Dig?!"

"Yes, and I would advise that," muttered Diggle, clearly unhappy with hearing the pair of them in their tryst. Felicity was like a sister to him, and hearing her in the throes of passion was something which he most certainly never ever wanted to hear again.

"Oh my god," blushed a mortified Felicity as she covered her eyes, turning away from the pair and facing the cupboards trying to regain some composure. It was nice that she was now in Thea's good books, but the fact that the whole house had heard her and Oliver's rather amorous antics, especially as it was only their first time was slightly mortifying to say the least. "This is your fault!"

"You weren't saying that last night," laughed Oliver as he eventually handed her an enormous cup of coffee and sat down on one of the large chairs pulling her closer to him. He clearly wasn't fussed with the fact that everyone had heard them, but then again his previous playboy antics did speak volumes here.

"Oliver, stop it!" She warned as she hit his leg scoldingly with a hint of playfulness. "I think we have all had enough of this conversation and should concentrate more on the fact about what we are going to do re the triad and our wedding on Saturday."

It was the ice breaker that they all needed and it was also an important discussion they needed to have. They needed to get several steps a head of the Triad especially with the wedding and their honeymoon coming up soon.

"Anatoly is on his way," announced Diggle as he watched the pair in front of him carefully with amusement. There was an obvious difference in the way they interacted with each other, something had changed and after everything that they had been through in the last few days it seemed that some how they were now stronger, more of an united front. And well, that made Diggle more happy and content with their relationship.

"Great," puffed Felicity blowing out an exasperated sigh. "What drama is he going to bring into our lives today, or is that a too controversial thing to say? You know I haven't missed not seeing him in a while... Even if he is my stepfather..."

"Felicity..." warned Diggle as he glanced at Thea, showing his disapproval of having this conversation with a minor in their presence. Anatoly and Felicity had a very volatile relationship at times which had been exaggerated by her fathers death and the blame she had put on Anatoly. Recently, they had managed to coexist without much distress but previous, the arguments, the rebellion had all been because of him. She was devastated when her mother had told her about their upcoming marriage but as she grew older she soon realised why they had wed. That her mother was in a hopeless situation and the only way to make it more manageable was to marry Anatoly. So as the years passed she had learnt it was best to stay close to him, he could offer her protection, something which she vastly needed from the Triad.

"Well maybe he can shed some light on the goings on within the Bratva and what they are going to do about the triad," remarked Oliver hopefully.

"Maybe, but I wouldn't get your hopes up on that," replied Diggle as he looked down at the computer which had the newly set up cameras to the area. "The car passed through just before you came downstairs, they shouldn't be too long now..."

"Well thanks for the early warning," snorted Felicity bluntly into her coffee.

"Well I would have come up the stairs and warned you before if the pair of you weren't so indisposed," smirked Diggle folding his beefy arms over his broad chest.

"Your sass game is strong today Dig... Kudos for you," approved Felicity, blushing as she recovered from his comment.

"Only for you Felicity..." He smiled before turning back to the laptop, a car engine cutting out just from out side. "That appears to be them here..."

"Let the fun games commence," Felicity drawled sinking further down into the seat, finishing off the last dregs of her coffee.

It didn't take long for the first member of their party to appear, a tiny blonde figure came barging into the room who Felicity instantly recognised as her good friend Sara. Quickly pushing herself up and out of Oliver's arms she thrust herself into her friends outstretched arms.

"Are you okay Flis?" She asked full of concerns, taking a step back to fully examine her friend and only once she realised that she was okay did she send a rather shifty and confused look towards where Felicity had previously been sitting with Oliver.

"I'm fine, absolutely fine," she replied warmly emitting a smile. "Everything is just fine and dandy right now, thanks to Oliver..."

"Good," smiled Sara, as she stepped back just as Anatoly arrived in the room, she glanced back at him, stepping away from Felicity to allow Anatoly to see him. "Diggle, I've just got some things to speak about regarding upping the security..."

"Felicity, I'm glad your alright," grunted the 5'6" balding man as he stood in the doorway his body width almost filing the whole frame. "I think we have some things to discuss in private."

"There's a lounge next door which shall do us, Oliver...?" asked Felicity, sending him a hopeful look encouraging him to follow her through. Oliver rose from his seat clasping Thea's shoulders before heading out of the room after the pair.

"He didn't need to come with us..." grumbled Anatoly as he sank deep into one of the armchairs, facing Felicity.

"He happens to be my fiancée and if you have anything to say you can say it to him too," she replied tartly, sitting down and twisting her engagement ring around in discomfort and annoyance.

"I think you should postpone the wedding," commanded Anatoly as he gripped his fingers together and surveyed Felicity who had pulled Oliver's free hand in her own.

"Wait what?!" Felicity blurted out, her eyes flying up in disbelief. "We are definitely not postponing the wedding!"

"Felicity, with everything going on with the Triad it's not safe. I cannot guarantee your safety and after yesterday many believe that the wedding will be the next target and maybe this time with catastrophic consequences."

"No, uh nuh, this is just because you don't want me to marry Oliver, ever since we announced our engagement you didn't want it to happen and now you think you can use me being targeted as an excuse to stop this! Well you can't! I've always been a target and always will be thanks to you and my father! So don't bloody well turn this around and say it's to keep me safe! There are plenty of precautions you can put in place, that you would put in place if it was someone else I was marrying! So you will put those precautions in place! No matter what we will still be getting married on Saturday! End of discussion!" snarled Felicity as she rose from her seat, escaping the hand that Oliver had tried to pull her back to him with in an attempt to hopefully calm her down a bit. 

"Felicity... I think maybe it would be wise to consider delaying it..." started Oliver, his hands rubbing on his thighs as a stunned Felicity whipped around looking incredulously at him.

"Finally! Something that we agree on!" barked Anatoly, a glint of hope in his eyes. If he could get Oliver on his side then this farce of a wedding definitely wouldn't happen.

"Oliver, would you mind coming outside so I can talk to you for a moment, in private?!" Felicity narrowed her eyes at him and jutted her head towards the door leaving him no choice. It didn't even take Oliver a second to realise that this was a time to do exactly what Felicity said and he followed her down the hall and outside, past several bulky Bratva men who Anatoly had brought with him.

"Oliver?! What are you playing at? Why are you agreeing with Anatoly? Or have you forgotten that it was you who approached me for protection? We still need to get married, for the Bratva to truly be able to protect you and for everyone to be willing to take a life for you our marriage is of the utmost importance and with everything that happened yesterday I think that only cements the hastiness of our wedding!" whispered Felicity ferociously her arms flying all over the place as they stood just at the edge of the clearing.

"Felicity, your safety is more important to me than this marriage, and with everything that happened yesterday, with the Triad targeting you to get to me, well I don't know if it is wise for this wedding to happen right now. I want to be able to protect you and not be the reason you are targeted."

"Oh don't be such an idiot, I have always been a target and always will, me having your name isn't going to change that!"

"But what about what happened at the weekend?" asked Oliver feebly wondering if the reminder of their argument would have an effect on Felicity's decision. 

"What our argument?" chuckled Felicity exasperated. "Oliver it's natural to have arguments, to disagree with things that's what keeps the relationship strong. And we are working through all that, being honest with each other, I think last night and this morning just showed me what we are truly like and what we are going to be like. Oliver, I want to be in for the long run with you, and I have done for a while..."

She reached up to him then, her hands cradling his face and pulling his head down so his eyes connected with hers, blue on blue.

"Oliver, this marriage is important to us, and if we postpone it what kind of message would that be sending out? That we are scared? That the Triad can rule our life? I don't want that to happen, I both know we are stronger than that..."

"But this marriage shouldn't just be about that, in the last few weeks, spending time with you, it's made me hopeful that we could have something more," he murmured, his fingers dancing through her hair, a hopeful look in his eyes.

"And I think that is something which I am very interested in," she hummed back, leaning into his hand which was cupping her cheek. "I know we are only at the start of our relationship but I feel it, and it feels so much more than anything I have ever felt before..."

"You know I love you right?" He chucked, his thumb brushing a few strands of her hair behind her ear. "And I'll agree to it because I really do want to be with you, and I think we can make this work... I have that feeling too you know... But I am going to consult with security on the matter, and I'll probably make changes regarding the wedding to make sure it's safe, for you and for everyone."

"And you wouldn't be you if you didn't, and that's why I love you too," she smiled shyly up at him before he ducked down and caught her lips with his, his arms pulling her closer to him, and he instantly felt more content and knew that he would make this work because he wanted to give them a shit and she deserved this, some happiness. Some how she had become to mean the world to him, and he just glad that she was willing to give him a chance as well as marry him.

"Come on, we better go back in before Anatoly comes looking for us, and him seeing us in such a compromising position would only aggravate him..." smiled Felicity as she withdrew from him, her hands squeezing his arms affectionately. "On a second thought, maybe if he finds us like this he'll know that it's a lost cause."

"I don't think that's wise..." chuckled Oliver as he guided Felicity back into the house, their hands firmly clasped together. "I have a feeling that he somehow is not going to be happy with our decision..."

To say that Anatoly was not happy was an understatement to say the least. He was absolutely fuming. He ranted and raved, obscenities flowing out of his mouth like no tomorrow, his arms flaring up enhancing his frustration, his annoyance, but they didn't back down. Felicity stood stoic, knowing that this was what he did, that Anatoly would blow up but eventually she would get her way with a little help from her mother. If there was anyone who could ease this situation and act as a buffer, it was Donna and Felicity hated that she wasn't there to help her. But it wasn't all bad, because at least she had Oliver by her side, and after their brief disagreement she could tell that she had won that rather small but momentum argument and that now he was definitely on her side and was supporting her in what she wanted to do, even if it would technically help him in the long run. 

When Anatoly eventually left he was still fuming, annoyed that Felicity hadn't been convinced by his argument and hoping that maybe he could convince Donna in helping change Felicity's mind. But his departure was only the begging of things. With more research to complete on the Triad and now new arrangements needed for the wedding a head they could both tell that everything was going to get a whole lot worse.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this and look forward to what is coming next! If you can to keep up to date with my progress on this fic you can find me on tumblr as akahazzap!


End file.
